New York at Indiana

The Indiana Pacers, despite being blown out in Game Two, did what they had to in New York. They won a game and now have home court advantage in what has become a best of five series. We saw the best and worst of both teams in the first two, and I would expect Indiana to respond here. The Knicks have to be concerned about Carmelo Anthony who is getting his points, as he usually does in the playoffs, at over 29 a game, but his playoff career is troubling as he shoots just 41% and 31% from deep. The trouble comes from his selfishness, determined to score his points regardless of double teaming opponents. His percentage suffers and his assists go down. While he will have his moments, the overall picture is of a player taking 33-34% of his teams shots at 41%; never good. Indiana has had some really bad games of their eight in the playoffs, and all of them have come on the road where they have averaged 86.4ppg. Despite the bad offensive numbers, they have still captured two wins on the road, and the one they needed in this series. The Pacers have been a whole different story at home in the playoffs where they are 3-0 and averaging 108.7ppg, a full 20 points better than their road mark. Those numbers are hard to ignore here, and the play in this one is on Indiana.