The Indiana Pacers have taken a commanding 3-1 lead over the New York Knicks after a Game 4 win against the New York Knicks. The Knicks have been thoroughly outclassed in the series so far, and are on the verse of getting kicked out of the playoffs. The biggest difference between the Pacers and the Knicks, in our opinion, has been coaching. Pacers’ head coach, Rick Carlisle, has been playing 10 players in the entirety of the playoffs so far, and every single player that comes on the court is contributing significantly. One night, it can be Nesmith going off, the other night it can be Mathurin. In game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals we saw Pascal Siakam taking over dropping 39 points, and in Game 4 we witnessed Tyrese Haliburton post a 32-point triple-double against the Knicks. <\/p>
Meanwhile, the Knicks simply look banged up and fatigued in this series, and that is because of head coach Tom Thibodeau’s 6 and a half man style of rotation, which is simply too much. He has absolutely zero trust when it comes to his bench, and has preferred to make his starters play at least 38 minutes every night. The Knicks allowed 43 points in the first quarter in Game 4, the Pacers have outscored the Knicks 86-33 in point-off-turnovers (17 turnovers in Game 4), and the Knicks have also been outscored on fast-break points 23-65 in this series. So overall, the Pacers are simply the better team on paper, and we highly doubt the Knicks’ chances at this point as they’ll have to win 3 continuous games to win the series, which is nearly impossible. <\/p>