Last-Minute News, Rumors, Reports before New York Knicks Indiana Pacers Game

The New York Knicks have the fourth most shots at the rim this season, which many people would see as a good thing. The problem is they are 29th in the league in percentage. And guys, tonight they go to Indiana to play a team that has not had its best player for the majority of the last two seasons. And that sounds like an easy win. And guys, it's not. And I'll show you the two things in this game that will decide it. Here's the first thing. The Knicks are one of the worst finishing teams in the league right now. And a night like tonight is where this can turn Honestly, this could not have come at a better time for the Knicks because playing the Pacers is a game they should win. And on top of that, Indiana plays at a pace where one bad rebound Turns into two points the other way. Stay with me, and I'm going to show you both on this episode of Knicks Digest. Guys, I also do want to say right now that Knicks have a 7% chance to win the NBA Finals, according to Cal Shee right now, which feels fairly low for a team that's coming off of winning the NBA title just five months ago. They may be only one game over 500 right now. But they are historically slow starters, not just in seasons, but also in games. And guys, if you do believe they can go back-to-back, then Calci is the place for you. I want to thank them for sponsoring this video. On Calci, you're trading directly against other users, not to house like traditional sportsbooks. You're buying yes-or-no contracts on the outcomes of events across sports, politics, and even the weather. For example, the Knicks to win the 2027 NBA championship. But right now, they have a 7% chance to do so. So you could get a payout over $300 on Calci right now if you trade $25. Because if you're interested in trying out Calci, click the link in our description down below. It's also in our pinned comment. And guys, you can get $55 when you trade your first $25 on Calci when you sign up using code DIGESTNBA. But getting into the problem with the Knicks and the Pacers and why this game will absolutely come down to a closer game than many people will expect, let's go into that. Let's start with how the New York Knicks score. 32.1% of their shots are at the rim, which is fourth in the league. And 14.3% of their shots are at the corner three, which is also fourth in the league. Add those together and 46.4% of their attempts come from the rim or the corner. It's a third in the NBA ranking and the shot diet is absolutely excellent. The finishing is not though. They make 57.7% of their shots at the rim, which is 29th. And in the paint just outside the restricted area, they are making 29.5%. That is 30th. Dead last in the NBA. So the Knicks are doing everything the analytics tell you to do, and the ball is just not going in. That's a problem that fixes itself, which is the best kind of problem. They're just all slumping right now with their shooting. And look at how fast this has changed. On October 25th, 27.6% of their shots were at the rim. Now it's 32.1%. That's a jump of 4.5 shots in a few weeks. At the same time, their share of shots in the non-restricted paint fell from 19.5 to 14.3%. That's a team that's heard the message of fewer floaters, more layups, The shot selection is moving towards the shots that win you games and ultimately an NBA championship. And here's the other side of this. The Knicks are first in the NBA in putbacks. 7.1% of their possessions. When they miss at the rim, they get the ball back. And they're second in offensive rebounding or first. They're in the top two right now. And here's a comment from Don Johnson 504 on our last video. The Knicks need at least one more big. The team looks small on the court. But tonight... The way to beat the offensive glass, the way to beat that is the offensive glass. And they're the best in the league at it. So one more number. On cut possessions, the Knicks score 1.08 points per possession. That's 29th in the league. So even the easy cuts are just not turning into points. And another comment from Janice Filo wrote, I know we like small guards, but we've got to stop already. We need the size and the versatility. I get it. But tonight's... That's the night the Knicks do not need a new roster. They need the shots that already go in to beat a Pacers team that's going to dare them to shoot. And the Pacers, don't look at the standings for them. Look at how they play. On transition possessions, Indiana scores 1.25 points per possession. That's fourth in the league. On isolations, it's 1.21 points per possession. That's second in the NBA. So the Pacers run and they get buckets in space. If the Knicks miss at the rim and the long rebound goes either way, that's how the game could get away from them. But there is a flip side. Indiana shoots 29.8% from mid-range, which is 27th in the NBA. And they are changing, too. On October 25th, 33.1% of Indiana's shots were at the rim. Now it's 27.4, down 5.7 shots. Their share of above the break threes went from 24.2 to 29.1 and they're getting fewer layups and taking more threes. Without Tyrese Halliburton running everything because he's out with a hamstring injury, they're shooting their way through games. Their team is 13.3 points per 100 possessions better with Andrew Nembhard on the floor. Their whole season is running through him right now, like it did last year, except to no avail because they were tanking. And they are strong inside when they do get there. They convert 53.0% in the paint outside of the restricted area. That's fifth in the NBA and the Knicks are 30th at it. Remember that. Tyrese Halliburton is still out and the Pacers are reportedly looking at mid-tier upgrades While they wait on him, according to Jake Fisher. And a team that is shopping is a team that knows where it stands. The Knicks should not give it a reason to feel better. And guys, a quick ask. This channel has the best like count this month was at over 200. Let's get to near 300 on this video. If you're getting value out of this content, make sure to hit the like button and also share your parlays with me down below like we do on every single game day. Now, ultimately, again, I think this is perfect timing for the Knicks, and this matchup could not have come at a better time. It's a high-stakes matchup, but also one that favors the Knicks easily. Jalen Brunson was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the third week in the NBA. He's shooting better lately, too, 47.5% from the field over his last five games, compared to the 39.5% before that, as he was still getting his legs under him again after he hurt his hand. And there is a milestone upcoming. He's 24 points away from passing Harry Gallatin for 15th in Knicks franchise history. That's literally about tonight. Most likely is when he'll break it. So think about that. Jalen Brunson is about to move up another spot on a list of the greatest scorers this franchise has ever had. And he is the greatest player this franchise has ever had. And he already passed Gerald Wilkins for 15th in franchise assists. He's ahead of him by 36. Now, here's the part that nobody's happy about. Mike Brown said this week, and I quote, Jalen played almost 35 minutes and he had zero free throw attempts. That's pretty alarming. I'm not sure how or why it was that way. That was against the Cavs. It was completely, guys, it was... Just awful, awful, awful calls between them and the Cavs. What are you going to do? It's a regular season game. The Knicks will be fine. And I'm not going to tell you the refs today thing. I'm never going to say that. That's totally not what happened. I will tell you that a point guard who lives in the paint and gets no free throws is leaving points at the table, which obviously has to be Jalen Brunson's fault, doesn't it? Totally, but obviously this does matter and tonight in particular, because the team that runs the way Indiana does will foul in transition and isolation. Jalen Brunson knows how to get to the free throw line. Those whistles will come. Count his free throw attempts in the first half. If it's still zero at halftime, then this is a big, big problem, but Indiana will not gift him that either. So he has to earn it. Go downhill, go at him, just play his style of basketball is really all it's going to take. There's also a question on Landry Schammett. The Knicks plus minus with Brunson jumps 9.5 points with Landry Schammett on the floor, over 220 minutes together. Keep an eye on whether Schammett gets minutes next to him tonight because Schammett's obviously back on the bench now that the Knicks' whole starting five is healthy and they're not going to take Mikael Bridges out of the starting five, at least not yet. And speaking of that starting five, the... Five starters of Onanobi, Bridges, Brunson, Hart, and Towns have a net rating of minus 2.5 in 80 minutes this season. And the team has, is 14.0 points per 100 possessions better with Landry Shaman on the floor, and is 18.8 points per 100 possessions worse with Mikhail Bridges on the floor. Now, on and off numbers this early are noisy. I would not build a roster off them, but they are why this is a conversation. I mean, we saw right here, From Keir Winickston 7656 saying, to be honest, I would have just moved Bridges before I touched Deuce, but that's just me talking about trades and potentially moving Bridges to free up some money. A lot of you are on the same page right here too. I know that right now, but I'm not worried about McHale at all. What I want to see tonight is simple. Does Mike Brown stick with the starting five and how do the minutes look when it gets tight to the fourth? McHale's minutes getting cut despite still starting. And think about what that means for Indiana. They will see the Knicks' big lineup and go small. Get out there and transition and try to turn this into a track meet. The Knicks need to hold their five on this glass. They need to be able to rebound. They do that super well. Towns has been the best rebounder in the NBA this season. Andre Drummond's been awesome. OG's not afraid of going in there and getting rebounds. The starting five just needs to show up and they need to perform. Also watch Josh Hart. He came back from an illness and an ankle injury on November 11th. And Cat was reported to play through a calf issue. If either one is limited, this becomes a different game, especially in the focus on rebounding. So let me put it all on one screen. Here's what to watch tonight. The rim finishing, the offensive glass, Indiana in transition as always, how Brunson gets to the free throw line, and the starting five in the fourth quarter. All that stuff matters, and it's going to decide the game, because one, the Knicks keep getting to the rim, and the shots finally fall, and they control the glass, so Indiana can't run. Two is Brunson gets to the line. Basically, the Knicks start doing what the Knicks did to win a championship again, and it works, which they're trying. This season, it's just not worked so far. They're just ice cold. It's what's happening, and if those two things do happen, the Knicks are going to win this game by double digits. If they don't, it's going to be a close game again. Knicks and Indiana tend to have close games against each other. It is a matchup that the NBA likes to show. He's on, it's easy to access this game too. It's on national television. So we should be getting ready to see a whole lot of stuff going down because the NBA likes to promote this rivalry. My read is that the Knicks are just better at basketball. And this is a sport where the numbers say the shots just start falling. But the Pacers can run and a team that is fourth in transition efficiency can push one bad possession. They can punish one bad possession as well. And they could just keep doing it one after another all night. And guys, the comment of the day comes from APAP1586, who said, there's too many teams in front of us right now for us to be considered the favorite to win a championship. That is the right altitude for a night like this. Just win the games in front of you. You're six and five. You got this. Let me know in the comments. Who do you think wins tonight, the Knicks or the Pacers? I'll read the best ones. I'll share some comments on the next video. Like this video, subscribe, turn on post notifications. Have a great day. I can't stream today, but I will catch you guys on the next one. Now click this video on the screen right now and go Knicks.