Pacers at Knicks Game 2 picks, odds, how to watch: New York tries rebuttal on Friday night
It felt appropriate to see Larry David and Susie Essman courtside on Wednesday. Their New York Knicks endured a strange and humiliating collapse of 'Curb' proportions. Amid the collective gasps and faint boos, we just about heard this theme music. The hosting Knicks try to get right and even up the Eastern Conference finals, while the Indiana Pacers pursue a surprise 2-0 series lead on the road. Game 1 was a fever dream, even for these extraordinarily chaotic playoffs. Let's see what's in store for Friday night.
Advertisement
Pacers lead the series 1-0
Series odds: Pacers -150, Knicks +125
The Knicks do not have time to ruminate, though shell-shock would be understandable. Per James Edwards III of The Athletic, New York became the first team since 1998 to lose a playoff game after leading by nine or more points in the final minute. Teams in that spot were previously 1,414-0.
Yikes. Atomic yikes! Still, there was much to like across the supermajority of regulation. Jalen Brunson racked up 43 points, and an aggressive Karl-Anthony Towns added another 35. The Knicks shot better than 51 percent from the floor and had spirited runs to close out each of the first two quarters. Miles McBride had another momentous block, and Mitchell Robinson was once again dominant on the offensive glass. Despite the carnival carousel of late-game regrets that haunted them — missed free throws, Aaron Nesmith's six-trey revelation and that fateful bounce off the back iron — New York showed how it can win this series.
The Pacers seemingly couldn't miss a shot in the opening minutes, and they kept pace in The Garden even as Brunson and Towns heated up. An intrepid Tyrese Haliburton had 31 points and 11 assists to just two turnovers. The team had seven total giveaways in four quarters plus overtime. Indiana stuck to its principles throughout Game 1. It ran the floor with briskness and shot at will, while pressing and going over screens on defense.
It also pulled off the late-game sorcery that has defined its postseason run. Similar to the stunners against Milwaukee and Cleveland, these Pacers were unflappable down the stretch and fearless in the comeback. Nesmith hit six threes in the final five minutes. If that sounds unprecedented and historically ridiculous, that's because it is. Andrew Nembhard also played near-flawless ball across the final 10 or so minutes. He scored the go-ahead bucket off a brilliant backdoor cut and then delivered the decisive stop one-on-one with Brunson in OT.
Advertisement
Through the first bout, these Eastern Conference finals are teasing something of an all-time classic with shades of 1990s folklore. Game 2 is a must-watch to start your three-day weekend.
2011 — Mavericks 112, Thunder 105 (OT): Shawn Marion stuffed Kevin Durant's game-winning try in regulation, then Dallas took over in overtime. Dirk Nowitzki had a 40-piece for the soon-to-be champs.
Betting/odds, ticketing and streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
(Photo by Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Wall Street Journal
an hour ago
- Wall Street Journal
The Mind-Blowing Comeback That Just Turned the NBA Finals Upside Down
Oklahoma City For pretty much the entire night, in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, the Indiana Pacers played like garbage. They turned the ball over at record rates. They fell behind the heavily favored Oklahoma City Thunder by double digits, clawed some of it back—and then fell behind by even more. For 47 minutes and 59.7 seconds of a 48-minute game, they hadn't held the lead for one single instant. As it turns out, that's exactly where the Pacers wanted to be. Indiana capped a mind-boggling 15-point comeback in the fourth quarter—tied for the biggest Finals turnaround since 1971—when point guard Tyrese Haliburton pulled up and drained a jump shot with 0.3 seconds left on the clock. The clutch bucket gave the Pacers their only lead of the entire night—at the only moment it mattered. 'This group is a resilient group,' Haliburton said after securing the 111-110 victory. 'We don't give up until there is zero on the clock.' For any other team, those last-second heroics would count as a miracle. But the Pacers have spent the entire postseason having their prayers answered by the patron saint of improbable comebacks. Eight times these playoffs, Indiana has fallen behind by at least 15 points. On five of those occasions, they've come back to win. The key, in nearly every one of those turnarounds, is Haliburton—a playmaker with an awkward jump shot and ice water running through his veins. Four times in this postseason, he has connected on a shot with less than two seconds to tie a game or take a lead. 'It is a 48-minute game,' Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder's MVP, said after having what looked like a sure series-opening victory snatched away. 'They teach you that lesson more than anyone else in the league—the hard way.' Entering Thursday's game, the Pacers had stunned every team they'd faced during the playoffs. Against the Bucks and Cavaliers in the opening two rounds, they came back from 7-point deficits with less than a minute to play. Against the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals, they dug out of a 14-point hole with 2:45 left on the clock. But even for the Pacers, Thursday's game was of a different order. Consider the various things stacked against them. The Thunder entered the game as perhaps the most dominant team in NBA history, having won their games this season by a record 12.9 points. To give the Thunder even more of an advantage, the Pacers spent the first half of the game coughing up the basketball as soon as they touched it, surrendering 19 first-half turnovers—the most in a Finals game since at least 2003, according to Stats Perform. And before he hit the shot that flipped the NBA Finals upside down, Haliburton had turned in a complete dud. Until he connected on the game-winner, Haliburton had scored just 12 points. Gilgeous-Alexander, on the other hand, had 38. So how did the Pacers make magic once again? It began with basketball's great equalizer: the 3-point shot. Although Oklahoma City spent most of the night with the ball in their hands, they made just 11 of their 30 3-pointers. Indiana, meanwhile, made the most of their long-range attempts, connecting on 18 of 39. Then came one crucial decision. After the Pacers—a team not known for their defense—forced Gilgeous-Alexander into a tough miss and gathered in the rebound, Indiana coach Rick Carlisle could have called a timeout and drawn up his team's last play. Instead, he chose to let the closing seconds play out in real time, trusting the point guard who had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat over and over again during the Pacers' playoff run. 'If we get a stop and get the rebound,' Carlisle said, 'we're gonna go, and hopefully get the ball in Tyrese's hands and look to make a play.' As it turned out, 'look to make a play' is the best play Carlisle could have called. Haliburton coolly sunk the shot, leaving the Thunder with almost no time on the clock and no chance for a late miracle of their own. As the series continues, Oklahoma City will look to rediscover the form that has made them so dominant throughout the regular season. But the Thunder have learned—the hard way—the most important lesson of playing the Pacers. If a lead feels comfortable…it's not. Write to Robert O'Connell at
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Mets' Griffin Canning opens up on career revival in New York, struggles with Angels
LOS ANGELES — It was the very first day of the offseason — when players can finally exhale after a grueling eight months of non-stop baseball. That, however, was not the case for Griffin Canning. The then-Angels pitcher of six years, and lifelong Orange County, Calif., resident, found his life and career upended by a trade to the Braves just hours after the World Series ended. Advertisement 'It was a little shocking,' Canning said on Thursday. 'But I didn't have a great year last year, so I wasn't super surprised to see it.' To say he didn't have a great year in 2024 is an understatement. Canning allowed 99 runs, the most in the American League. His strikeout rate took a massive dip, from 9.9 per nine innings in 2023 to just 6.8 in 2024. It was a bad season. But he's more than made up for it with the Mets. After the Braves traded for the 29-year-old righty, he was non-tendered. New York subsequently signed Canning to a one-year, $4.25 million deal, taking a chance on a once-promising arm. He now has a 2.90 ERA over his first 12 starts and is one of the top starting pitchers in the National League, amid a full-scale turnaround of his career. Speaking in front of his locker inside the Mets clubhouse at Dodger Stadium — the morning after he shut out the defending champions over six innings — he reflected on why things have worked better for him in New York than they ever did in Anaheim. 'You see it with a lot of guys, just a change of scenery,' said Canning. 'I was in Southern California my whole life. It's nice to get out and experience something new.' It wasn't just the scenery that changed for Canning. It was the team culture, the strategic plan implemented by his new coaches, and the technology available to him. Most importantly, he changed his pitch sequencing. Canning's best pitch is his slider, but he didn't throw it as much in his final season with the Angels. Its usage has gone from 24.1 percent in 2024 to 32.9 percent this year. With that has come a dip in his four-seam fastball usage, which has gone from a primary option to a more strategic one. 'It was difficult. We had four or five different managers and four or five different pitching coaches with the Angels,' Canning said. 'Sometimes a new guy comes in and maybe doesn't necessarily know you as well. Or just different organizational philosophies when people come in and out.' Advertisement The results speak for themselves. His fastball is resulting in whiffs on 19.5 percent of swings, compared to 14.8 percent last year. The hard-hit percentage has decreased to 44.4 percent, compared to 51.4 percent in 2024. The batting average against and slugging percentage against have steeply declined. All while his slider effectiveness has increased across all the same metrics. Canning said there's nothing different about his slider. Just a few mechanical tweaks to his delivery, and, more importantly, he's changed what pitches he throws in what counts. 'It starts with him buying into what we offered him, and also giving credit to our pitching department that is able to not only provide the information, but get to know the player,' said Mets manager Carlos Mendoza. 'We knew he had a good slider. … Last year, he threw his four-seamer a lot. I think it's more increasing this pitch, not so much of that one.' Canning also said the Mets utilize technology differently. For example, he said he utilizes a KinaTrax machine, which allows him to see his skeletal movements and subsequently improve them. Canning said the reliance on technology with the Mets is more than he was used to with the Angels. 'We had it, but I never saw it,' Canning said of the KinaTrax. 'I think the Angels have all the similar things. I don't think it's a bad thing — sometimes they don't want guys to go down that rabbit hole, and worry about those kinds of things.' On Wednesday night, Canning had his best start of the season. Six shutout innings, seven strikeouts, no walks, just three hits. On the season, his home runs per nine innings dropped to 0.9 from 1.6. Hard contact against him has been fewer and farther between. 'Much different,' said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. 'Obviously, he's healthy. The stuff is playing up. The velocity is up. There's a cutter, the slider is good, there's a changeup. He's a much better pitcher, more weapons than he's had in the past.' Advertisement The Angels have long struggled to develop starting pitching, particularly pitchers that they drafted. Their recent history is littered with examples of arms who haven't evolved in the way they hoped. Canning is arguably the most concrete example of this. He was drafted in the second round in 2017. By 2019, he was the organization's top pitching prospect, behind only Jo Adell on the overall leaderboard. There was hope he'd be a legit ace-level pitcher. Instead, it was a half-dozen years of injuries and ineffectiveness. Culminating in his worst season, and a career inflection point. Now, Canning is that ace-level starter on the best team in the National League. He's a pending free agent, and if he continues to pitch well, he will command a haul on the open market. New York is a different animal from Anaheim. It's a younger and more lively crowd, Canning said, with a great knowledge of the game. But it also invites a ton of pressure — a demand for success that isn't matched anywhere else. The good news for Canning is that he's satisfied and exceeded every expectation. To save his career and be a critical piece of what the Mets hope is a historic season. 'They thought they could bring me in and see some success,' Canning said. 'I think it's a testament to the culture. A big aspect of it is being on more of a winning team. Not playing for yourself as much, but playing for the 25 other guys, has been helpful for me in particular.' The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya contributed reporting to this story. (Top Photo: Harry How / Getty Images)
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
After hitting ‘rock bottom,' Braves can still salvage their season – if they snap out of it
The Atlanta Braves are 27-34, 11 games back in the NL East, 1 1/2 games behind rebuilding Washington and only 3 1/2 ahead of lowly Miami. After their latest misstep, a blown six-run lead in the ninth inning Thursday against Arizona, their broadcaster and Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine said, 'If you were looking for rock bottom, this might be it.' Advertisement The tendency, in this age of overreaction, is to project the Braves as trade-deadline sellers and start listing potential landing spots for designated hitter Marcell Ozuna. But through the same date a year ago, the New York Mets were 27-35 and the Houston Astros 28-35, records nearly identical to the Braves' current mark. Both teams finished with nearly 90 wins and reached the postseason. If the Braves fail to ignite, it will be fair to question whether they lost too much of their fabric with the free-agent departures of first baseman Freddie Freeman, shortstop Dansby Swanson and left-hander Max Fried over a four-year span. Whether president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos created too comfortable an environment by awarding so many players extensions. Whether Anthopoulos last offseason should have done more to address his offense and bullpen. But more than 100 games remain. As poorly as the Braves are playing, the recoveries of the 2024 Mets and Astros are testaments to the dangers of passing judgment on a team too soon. So, for that matter, is the example of the 2021 World Series champion Braves, who at this stage of the season were 29-32. The 162-game marathon, combined with an expanded playoff format, allows teams to recover from a bad month or even three. The Braves are unlikely to even consider selling unless they are buried at the All-Star break. Their replacement of third-base coach Matt Tuiasosopo with former manager Fredi Gonzalez on Monday was not a warning shot at manager Brian Snitker, who has led the team to seven straight postseason appearances and is in his 49th year with the organization. No, it was simply a response to two seasons of Tuiasosopo making poor decisions. A change team officials deemed necessary. Snitker isn't blameless. The Braves aren't going to fire him after all he has achieved, but this sure looks like his last season. On Thursday alone, he could have stuck longer with right-hander Grant Holmes rather than start the bullpen carousel by lifting him after 3 1/3 innings. Still, the Braves took their six-run lead into the ninth. At some point, their disappointing performance is on the players, from center fielder Michael Harris II to second baseman Ozzie Albies to closer Raisel Iglesias. Advertisement By this time a year ago, the Mets already had started their turnaround. The Astros got going about two weeks later. But not every club reaches its desired destination. Another projected contender last season, the Texas Rangers, showed how some teams never recover from faulty starts, missing the playoffs one year after winning the World Series. The Braves, if they don't snap out of it, could be this year's Rangers. Their plus-6 run differential indicates their record should be above .500, yet they are seven games under. They have played a major-league-high 25 one-run games, and are only 9-16 in those contests. Even with the deadline offering an opportunity for improvement, an opportunity Anthopoulos seized to catapult his club to a championship in 2021, the strength of the NL this season adds to the degree of difficulty. The Braves need more from their offense, which, before their 10-run eruption Thursday, was tied with the Marlins for 22nd in runs per game. They also need to fix their bullpen, which underwent another shakeup after Thursday's shocking ninth-inning collapse — Daysbel Hernández to the injured list, Scott Blewett designated for assignment and Craig Kimbrel and Dylan Dodd up from Triple A. Yet, for all the Braves' middle-inning maneuvering, the biggest problem remains closer Raisel Iglesias, whose .956 opponents' OPS essentially means he is turning every hitter into Pete Alonso. Not even the highly anticipated returns of right-hander Spencer Strider and right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. altered the Braves' trajectory. Strider is trying to regain his form after missing all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery and nearly a month this season with a strained right hamstring. Acuña, coming off nearly a yearlong absence due to a torn ACL in his left knee, is performing better than the Braves could have expected, batting .333 with four home runs and a 1.056 OPS. Yet the team is 3-9 since his return. Bad breaks are part of this. The loss of right-hander Reynaldo López to shoulder inflammation after one start. The offseason knee surgery that might sideline setup man Joe Jiménez all season. The 80-game suspension to left fielder Jurickson Profar for testing positive for PEDs. Advertisement Well, all teams deal with injuries. The $42 million investment in Profar, based on his outlier campaign in 2024, was always going to be a gamble. And even the regressions of Harris (.590 OPS) and Albies (.658) reflect the volatility in individual performance that is part of the game. The Braves never expected catcher Drake Baldwin and outfielder Eli White to make such positive contributions, either. Early in the offseason, Anthopoulos orchestrated a series of moves to create payroll flexibility, trading designated hitter Jorge Soler, allowing catcher Travis d'Arnaud to depart as a free agent and restructuring the contracts of López and reliever Aaron Bummer. The Braves later lost Fried, right-hander Charlie Morton and reliever A.J. Minter to free agency as well. Profar turned out to be Anthopoulos' only significant addition. And the team, under its Liberty Media ownership, wound up with a lower payroll. Fried might win a Cy Young Award, but the Braves never were going to sign him to the $218 million contract he received from the New York Yankees, and their rotation isn't a problem. Anthopoulos non-tendered Griffin Canning, the pitcher he acquired from the Los Angeles Angels for Soler, and the Mets turned Canning into a potential All-Star. But none of the other players Anthopoulos lost is haunting him. His plan just isn't unfolding the way he envisioned. The way the Braves are constructed, an offense that set records in 2023 should be capable of succeeding with light-hitting Nick Allen at shortstop, just as the Astros once thrived with Martín Maldonado at catcher. A better version of outfielder Jarred Kelenic, an Anthopoulos acquisition from last offseason who earned a demotion at Triple A, surely would help. But the Braves shouldn't need to rely on him, either. Some seasons are like this. Some years it doesn't just work out. The Braves are talented enough to bounce back like they did in 2021, and like the Mets and Astros did last season. But at some point, they've got to show it. And they sure aren't showing it yet. (Top photo of Brian Snitker: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
