Eastern Conference semifinals preview: Will the Knicks’ moves finally pay off?

Round 1 of the NBA Playoffs has ended on the East side of the bracket, and so far, things have been pretty mundane.

All four of the higher seeds in the Eastern Conference advanced — a relative rarity as it’s just the second time since 2020 that’s happened — and outside of the plucky Detroit Pistons giving the New York Knicks some trouble, the rest of the series were largely one-sided.

What that hopefully means for those of us eagerly awaiting some post-season intrigue is that we’re in store for a pair of highly competitive second-round matchups. The playoffs may be a marathon and not a sprint, but it’s time for the remaining teams to pick up the pace after being afforded the luxury of sauntering through the first round.

All four squads left out East are in form and ought to be champing at the bit for a step up in competition.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers will face off for just the fourth time in the playoffs, while the Knicks and Boston Celtics look to rekindle one of the league’s most popular post-season rivalries.

With that being said, until the Eastern Conference semifinals officially get underway on Sunday, here’s what you need to know heading into each series.

(1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (4) Indiana Pacers

Season series: Pacers lead 3-1

Series schedule (all times in ET):
Game 1: Sunday, May 4 at 6 p.m. (on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet+)
Game 2: Tuesday, May 6 at 7 p.m.
Game 3: Friday, May 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Game 4: Sunday, May 11 at 8 p.m.
*Game 5: Tuesday, May 13 at TBD
*Game 6: Thursday, May 15 at TBD
*Game 7: Sunday, May 18 at TBD
* if necessary

Burning Question: Which team wins in the clutch?

After Cleveland had one of its best regular-season showings in franchise history, amassing 60 wins for just the third time, Round 1 was set up for them to prove if that success could translate to the playoffs.

Not only did the Cavs prove it, dispatching the Miami Heat in sweeping fashion, they asserted dominance as they won by an average of 30.5 points, even while missing all-star Darius Garland for Games 3 and 4 (who is listed as questionable ahead of Game 1 against the Pacers).

Cleveland was far and away the better team in the first-round series, making Miami look like the 10th seed it truly was, shredding what was a top-10 defence for the largest point differential (plus-122) in NBA playoff history.

But now the challenge will undoubtedly be tougher as they’ll have to outduel an Indiana squad that plays much faster (top five in pace), shares the ball more effectively (leads the NBA in playoff assists percentage) and has some serious depth (seven double-digit scorers).

The Pacers made taking down the Milwaukee Bucks look like a relative walk in the park, sending Giannis Antetokounmpo and company packing after just five games. Indiana won by an average of 13.5 points, punctuating the opening round matchup by overcoming a 20-point second-half deficit to steal Game 5 in overtime and end the series.

Entering Round 2, both Cleveland and Indiana offer speed, size and athleticism up and down their rosters, while being fronted by dynamic backcourts and anchored by versatile bigs. Which begs the question: With so much in common, what might be the difference in their series? We may just have to wait until the end of each game to find out.

The Cavaliers and Pacers were two of the league’s best performers in closing time this season. Cleveland led the NBA with the best fourth-quarter net rating (plus-10.0) while Indiana ranked a close second. Filter down to clutch time (final five minutes when the score is within five points) and the two teams were flipped, with the Pacers topping the charts (plus-20.9) and the Cavaliers right behind. Fast forward to the post-season, and both have continued that trend as Indiana and Cleveland have been the league’s most productive clutch offences throughout Round 1.

It’s also worth noting there isn’t a lot of playoff history to lean on between the Central Division rivals — this will be their first post-season matchup since 2018 — and this year’s regular-season series was essentially moot. Two of those games came at the end of April with starters resting on both sides, and the pair of games Indiana and Cleveland split in January were before the Cavs traded for De’Andre Hunter.

When second-round action tips off, it’ll essentially be a blank slate between two really good ball clubs at the top of their respective games, something we should all be excited about.

(2) Boston Celtics vs. (3) New York Knicks

Season series: Celtics lead 4-0

Series schedule (all times in ET):
Game 1: Monday, May 5 at 7 p.m.
Game 2: Wednesday, May 7 at 7 p.m.
Game 3: Saturday, May 10 at TBD
Game 4: Monday, May 12 at TBD
*Game 5: Wednesday, May 14 at TBD
*Game 6: Friday, May 16 at TBD
*Game 7: Monday, May 19 at 8 p.m.
* if necessary

Burning Question: Will the Knicks’ moves finally pay off?

As a pair of prestige franchises get set to face off in the post-season for the 17th time — the second most frequent playoff matchup in NBA history, and first since 2013 — the Knicks will have to prove they can stick with the defending champs to truly rekindle the rivalry.

New York’s roster overhaul — going back to last year’s mid-season acquisition of OG Anunoby — was always about trying to keep up with Boston. Adding the lockdown wing and then trading for Mikal Bridges was an attempt at countering the size and star power of the Celtics’ Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown on the perimeter.

The Knicks then made the move for Karl-Anthony Towns as the supposed final piece of the puzzle, looking to bring in a facsimile of what Kristaps Porzingis offers on the other side, at least, offensively.

Unfortunately for New York, things haven’t exactly gone to plan.

It was pretty much a Beantown beatdown throughout the regular season, as the Knicks got swept pretty handily, the Celtics winning all four games by an average of 16.3 points. New York didn’t do itself any favours either by losing the math battle as emphatically as it did, making 39 fewer triples than Boston in that span. Not exactly a recipe for success against the NBA’s best three-point shooting team.

All the while, Tatum was able to routinely evade or simply outwork the Knicks’ plethora of wing defenders as he torched them to the tune of 33.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 7.0 assists on 69.1 per cent true shooting throughout the regular season.

So, how exactly might New York flip that script in the playoffs? For starters, Towns and Jalen Brunson need to get on the same page. Neither are defensive stalwarts individually, but are even less so as a duo. The Knicks’ defensive rating was worse throughout the regular season when both shared the floor as opposed to one or the other stepping off — a trend that’s only been exacerbated throughout the post-season.

Stats throughout playoffs.

Of all the teams to take advantage of that fact, Boston may have been at the top of the list. According to NBA.com, the Celtics put Towns into 134 pick-and-rolls throughout their four lop-sided matchups, the most of any defender against them in the regular season.

Meanwhile, the Pistons further proved how fruitful attacking the small-big pairing can be, going after it routinely en route to taking two games off the Knicks in Round 1. Of Detroit’s 10 most productive matchups versus New York, six were against either Towns or Brunson as the primary defenders.

Now, if those two can’t get on the same wavelength, maybe it’ll simply take some more heroics from the recently crowned Clutch Player of the Year. Despite losing a bunch, Brunson did find individual success against the Celtics this year — his 26.8 points on 66.9 per cent true shooting ranked second amongst opponents who played at least four games against Boston. Meanwhile, he’s held true to the clutch moniker as the most productive fourth-quarter scorer throughout the playoffs, averaging 11.0 points on 50 per cent shooting in the final 12 minutes of ball games.

New York’s star guard has proven time and time again, as recently as Game 6 against the Pistons, that if the Knicks can keep things close, he’ll be ready to put on his cape and come to their rescue. He’s not only the hero Gotham City deserves, but the one it’ll most certainly need in order to pull off an upset.

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