**This game preview is penned by Ben Ross, a contributing writer to Knicks Journal. You can follow Ben on Twitter @bnr1986.**
A home & home series begins later today for the New York Knicks with the Indiana Pacers, and the former playoff rival could not be showing up at a better time. Indiana is mired in six game losing streak and has 8 of 9 overall. They were blown out at Oklahoma city, at Houston and shockingly, at Minnesota. Nevertheless, Knick fans should be thankful for this recent poor play. Indiana now finds itself at 27-38, tied for 8th place in the Eastern Conference. With the Knicks in 6th place at 34-30, they find themselves 7.5 games ahead of the Pacers, with only 18 games to play.
Indiana's struggles can be attributed to two of its young building blocks, Darren Collison and Roy Hibbert. Collison has been described by some writers as the fastest guy in the NBA with the ball in his hands, but it hasn't looked that way recently. In two of the recent blowouts, Collison has been flat out awful, twice posting four turnover nights while scoring less than ten points and recording no more than one assist. Clearly, that type of production is unacceptable from the point guard position for nearly any NBA team.
With Collison's struggling, Indiana appears to be the perfect return game for Chauncey Billups, who's been out since the Orlando game with a deep thigh bruise. Collison's backup in Indiana is Long Island native AJ Price, who has moved ahead of TJ Ford on the Pacers depth chart. Price has played well and the Pacers winning percentage is nearly identical with Ford out of the rotation as it was with him in it, but the casual observer still has to question why a veteran PG is taking a seat to a 25 year old kid when the team is in the midst of a playoff push.
Ford is an expiring contract and was a name mentioned as a buyout candidate a couple weeks ago, so one could understand that the Pacers organization cares more about getting Price reps for their future than being the 8th seed this season and possibly being easy prey for the Celtics. However, for a team known to lose money, one would have to assume that the extra revenue from at least two home playoff games would be most important.
Regardless, the matchup of Billups vs Collison, coupled with how Mike D'Antoni allocates minutes to Toney Douglas and Anthony Carter with Billups returning, will be key in this two game series.
Hibbert, a 7'2 true center who's shown flashes of brilliance at times this season, has also struggled as of late. Still, the Knicks need to key in on him and Jeff Foster. Foster is a rugged veteran who specializes in defense and rebounding. Like Ronny Turiaf, Foster has struggled to stay on the court due to injuries.
It will be very interesting to see how Jeffries, Turiaf and possibly Shelden Williams handle Hibbert and Foster. When the Knicks prevailed on January 2nd, Foster and Hibbert only combined for 12 points and 10 rebounds. While the Knicks roster was obviously quite different back then, it should be noted that Turiaf was the only true center to see playing time that day.
Additionally, UNC legend Tyler Hansbrough was injured at the time for Indiana, and did not play. Now, Mike Dunleavy is injured with a broken left thumb for Indiana, and will not play today.
With 18 games remaining, it is crucial for the Knicks to head towards the postseason and some consistent play. While it is still too early to make a judgment on the trade, it is currently clear that chemistry is not an issue. Tonight will be the first time that Billups and Jeffries share the court together.
A two game sweep of Indiana would give New York further separation from the playoff cellar, allow them to keep their slim lead over Philadelphia, and make a charge on the very erratic Atlanta. A split of these two games or being swept by Indiana would be inconsequential in the long run, but very disheartening. Still, its been a long time since these two 90s rivals played meaningful games outside of the winter, and hopefully it's one of many to come in this decade.
Indiana's struggles can be attributed to two of its young building blocks, Darren Collison and Roy Hibbert. Collison has been described by some writers as the fastest guy in the NBA with the ball in his hands, but it hasn't looked that way recently. In two of the recent blowouts, Collison has been flat out awful, twice posting four turnover nights while scoring less than ten points and recording no more than one assist. Clearly, that type of production is unacceptable from the point guard position for nearly any NBA team.
With Collison's struggling, Indiana appears to be the perfect return game for Chauncey Billups, who's been out since the Orlando game with a deep thigh bruise. Collison's backup in Indiana is Long Island native AJ Price, who has moved ahead of TJ Ford on the Pacers depth chart. Price has played well and the Pacers winning percentage is nearly identical with Ford out of the rotation as it was with him in it, but the casual observer still has to question why a veteran PG is taking a seat to a 25 year old kid when the team is in the midst of a playoff push.
Ford is an expiring contract and was a name mentioned as a buyout candidate a couple weeks ago, so one could understand that the Pacers organization cares more about getting Price reps for their future than being the 8th seed this season and possibly being easy prey for the Celtics. However, for a team known to lose money, one would have to assume that the extra revenue from at least two home playoff games would be most important.
Regardless, the matchup of Billups vs Collison, coupled with how Mike D'Antoni allocates minutes to Toney Douglas and Anthony Carter with Billups returning, will be key in this two game series.
Hibbert, a 7'2 true center who's shown flashes of brilliance at times this season, has also struggled as of late. Still, the Knicks need to key in on him and Jeff Foster. Foster is a rugged veteran who specializes in defense and rebounding. Like Ronny Turiaf, Foster has struggled to stay on the court due to injuries.
It will be very interesting to see how Jeffries, Turiaf and possibly Shelden Williams handle Hibbert and Foster. When the Knicks prevailed on January 2nd, Foster and Hibbert only combined for 12 points and 10 rebounds. While the Knicks roster was obviously quite different back then, it should be noted that Turiaf was the only true center to see playing time that day.
Additionally, UNC legend Tyler Hansbrough was injured at the time for Indiana, and did not play. Now, Mike Dunleavy is injured with a broken left thumb for Indiana, and will not play today.
With 18 games remaining, it is crucial for the Knicks to head towards the postseason and some consistent play. While it is still too early to make a judgment on the trade, it is currently clear that chemistry is not an issue. Tonight will be the first time that Billups and Jeffries share the court together.
A two game sweep of Indiana would give New York further separation from the playoff cellar, allow them to keep their slim lead over Philadelphia, and make a charge on the very erratic Atlanta. A split of these two games or being swept by Indiana would be inconsequential in the long run, but very disheartening. Still, its been a long time since these two 90s rivals played meaningful games outside of the winter, and hopefully it's one of many to come in this decade.
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