Indiana Pacers look to sweep the New York Knicks
The New York Knicks will visit the Indiana Pacers for the final time of the season on Tuesday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Pacers will be looking for a season sweep of the Knicks. Gametime is scheduled for 7 PM ET.
Who will be playing for both teams?
It is uncertain if any of the star players for both the Pacers and Knicks will even play on Tuesday night. For the Knicks, rookie sensation Kristaps Porzingis is supposed to be traveling with the team, but it is highly unlikely that he plays versus the Pacers. The Knicks will have Carmelo Anthony, but as of late he has really been struggling to find a rhythm. New York will also be without a few of their key players. Jose Calderon and Lance Thomas join Porzingis as Knicks players that won’t appear in the game on Tuesday night.
As for the Pacers, head coach Frank Vogel said that he does not plan to rest any of his starters as they are still trying to chase the 7th seed. Don’t be surprised however if someone like Paul George rests, as he has been dealing with multiple ankle problems lately. George has been able to play through those problems, but resting him for the playoffs might be a smart decision for Vogel and the Pacers. If all of the starters play for the Pacers the hope would then be that they can come out, play well and make it so that the starters don’t have to play much. Vogel mainly wants to play his starters so that they can attempt to avoid playing the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
A look at past matchups with New York
In the past seven meetings with the New York Knicks, the Pacers have been victorious in all of those. They aren’t focused on keeping that streak going however. What the Pacers are focused on is taking care of business and trying to grab the 7th seed for the NBA Playoffs. In the last matchup with the Knicks, both teams struggled to score the ball. The Pacers were able to squeak out a 92-87 win. That was a very disappointing performance for the Pacers as they were only able to score 92 points.
That game saw the Indiana Pacers up by as much as 18 points in the second half. Their late game issues almost caused them a lot of problems in that game, but they were ultimately able to pull out the win. The game came down to the wire and Paul George was playing through a sore ankle that had him sidelined throughout part of the game. At that point Pacers fans all across the world were nervous. George was able to play through the pain and hit the game winning jumper with around 23 seconds left in the game.
Projected Starters:
Knicks:
PG: Jerian Grant, SG: Sasha Vujacic, SF: Carmelo Anthony, PF: Derrick Williams, C: Robin Lopez.
Pacers:
PG: George Hill, SG: Monta Ellis, SF: Paul George, PF: Lavoy Allen, C: Ian Mahinmi.
Injuries:
Knicks: Jose Calderon- out (bruised right quadriceps), Kristaps Porzingis- out (sore right shoulder), Lance Thomas-out (left MCL), Tony Wroten- out (right knee).
Pacers: None