[Cactus Jack]

Well this series is similar & opposite of Denver-Minnesota. Team overcoming 2-0 deficit, but home team has won every game. Have to think can the Knicks keep this pace up that they're playing with a shortened roster anyways, plus the lingering injuries that are plaguing them? Coach Thibs is known for playing his starters a high volume of minutes anyways, and that's always going to be the case in the playoffs. Have a feeling this series could go 7. Got to give it to the Pacers for defending home court and getting back to even the series.

Looks like they'll keep it the rest of the series, but I think they'll hit a wall against the Celtics, even if the C's are short-handed. If Boston can put the Knicks away early and get some extra rest, that'd probably be huge for them in the Finals.

Guys like Tom Thibodeau and Kelvin Sampson are obviously great basketball minds, but you wonder how much of the "toughness" mentality has been passed by current sports science and data analytics.

Can't win if the key pieces you've rode all season are on the bench in braces or putting topical on surgical sites during the games that really matter.