Pacers vs. Knicks Game Six: NBA Finals Spot on the Line

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00:00It is game number six between the Pacers and the Knicks.

00:03New York winning by 17 with its season on the brink in game number five.

00:08Our only game in the Eastern Conference Finals so far decided by double digits.

00:13Is there more life and a renewed sense of confidence for the Knicks

00:17on the road in Indianapolis tomorrow night against the Pacers?

00:21Or will the Pacers, with a sense of resolve, back on its own home floor,

00:26ice out this series, crunch it in game number six,

00:29and head back to the NBA Finals for the first time in two and a half decades?

00:33DRS, from the numbers perspective, that's what we expect to happen.

00:36Indiana, a three and a half point home favorite, minus 176,

00:40that updated money line price, and a total working its way up now to 219.

00:46From the numbers, DRS, what do you expect to happen in game number six

00:50tomorrow night in downtown Indy?

00:53I expect the Indiana Pacers to win this game.

00:56I expect them to cover the three and a half point spread,

00:58and I'm interested to see it because we see that graphic at 217 and a half is the total,

01:02now sitting at 219 at the FanDuel Sportsbook, where that winds up.

01:05Because, again, a little bit more free-flowing, typically in series, that star,

01:09and then sort of when you have the grind, everybody's in it together,

01:12every possession means so much.

01:14Usually the tempo does slow down.

01:15And also, as I pointed out early in the show, the referees as well understand,

01:19we don't want to be the focal point.

01:21Like, I don't want to give Jalen Brunson three fouls in the first quarter

01:23in a pivotal game number six, which they have to win,

01:25and he can't play until the second half.

01:27I don't want to give Carl Anthony Towns that ticky-tack foul that he loves to get.

01:30Maybe I don't blow it there in game six or game seven if it gets that late,

01:33which means that it's a little bit more physical brand of basketball,

01:36which never leads to more points at that point.

01:38So I do lean towards the under.

01:40But for me, I thought the Knicks were in game number five,

01:43and I think the Pacers are going to win game number six.

01:45And if that can say, well, again, my favorite thing to say is, right,

01:47well, I think the Pacers win, Ben, but I don't know if they come in by three and a half.

01:50Like, nobody's doing that.

01:51Like, you're going to pick the Pacers to win.

01:52You expect them to win convincingly, which would mean five-plus points in this game.

01:56We're not worried about the point spread.

01:58And this really has always been Donnie's philosophy on this series.

02:01I thought Indiana would win this series as well to claim the Eastern Conference.

02:06I've got a 9-1 ticket on the Pacers to win an NBA championship.

02:10We'll figure it out once we get there against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

02:13So to the 17-point margin, our most lopsided contest so far

02:17in any of the five of the Eastern Conference Finals changed DRS's mind?

02:21No?

02:21Did it change yours or the overall assessment?

02:25I'm not entirely sure.

02:26And you did have to appreciate the response, DRS,

02:29at least based on the post-game press conference from Indiana last night.

02:32Hey, listen, we'll be honest.

02:33New York came out here with that sense of urgency and beat us.

02:36They were more physical.

02:37We now know we have to take that back to our own home floor

02:41inside Game Bridge Fieldhouse in game number six.

02:44It's nice to talk it.

02:45Now it's time to walk the walk tomorrow night on a Saturday in Indy.

02:50Total on its way up.

02:51Now at 219.

02:52You saw 217.5 on the graphic.

02:55Earlier this morning, 218.

02:56And now up by another full point.

02:59DRS, if the Pacers win tomorrow night

03:01and claim that spot in the NBA Finals, clinching this series,

03:05what does that mean for the total?

03:07Look, I think the total, again, it goes to the under.

03:10Because if we're looking at a game where the anticipation is

03:13one team just played a game,

03:14I mean, it's a great correlation too, right?

03:16Game number five, what did you see out of the New York Knicks?

03:18Hey, man, they played really good defense.

03:19They were high energy, high intensity.

03:21Well, if it's not easy, everybody would just be high intensity

03:23and play great defense every game

03:24and everybody would win an NBA championship.

03:26That's the way I coached on.

03:27I was like, can this actually be sustainable

03:28where the Knicks say, hey, we finally found something?

03:31Because you look at the starting lineup,

03:32what was the best in there?

03:3315 points.

03:33Everybody else was below that.

03:35You're not going to hold the team specifically like the Pacers at home

03:37to that level two straight games or let alone three straight games.

03:41So something has to give.

03:41But for me, I just don't know if we get the tempo

03:43because we understand that the Pacers are more athletic

03:46and they do want to run.

03:47I understand that.

03:48But it still takes two to tango when you have a total

03:49unless you just get a blowout of 140 to 100

03:53and nobody cares because one team was so far and away better,

03:56it didn't matter to the other side.

03:57I just want to see like first quarter.

03:59Like how does that go?

04:00Is Brunson lighting it on fire?

04:02Is Halliburton launching logo threes,

04:04knocking them down the first three minutes of the game?

04:06Because that'll dictate a lot.

04:07And what was it?

04:07Was it game that was a game number four?

04:10What was the game that was like 43-37?

04:12Was that the?

04:13Yeah, game four.

04:1443-35.

04:16Indiana came out and blitzed, but New York kept pace.

04:18Yeah.

04:19Exactly.

04:19Like I don't think we're going to get that type of start here

04:21because of what is actually on the line

04:23where for one team there is no tomorrow.

04:24And I said multiple times for the Pacers.

04:27I mean, there is a tomorrow in game number seven, right?

04:30Theoretically for them, but they understand the task at hand.

04:32It's not getting back to New York,

04:34which that'll be such a tough basketball game to win.

04:36So for me, can they get over?

04:38Sure, they can.

04:39But I have this feeling, Ben.

04:40It's like a 108-101 type game, right?

04:43Where both teams creep around 100,

04:45but we don't have that crazy runaway.

04:46And also understand this.

04:48Like if we are getting a crazy runaway early,

04:50one team is certainly going to slow that game late in the game

04:53and bench players come in and nobody cares.

04:55But I expect a really hard-fought game both ways

04:57and a close game, which means we don't get that extra fouling, right?

05:01So in the final two minutes of the game, Ben,

05:02if we're 98 or 100 to 99,

05:05you're going to play that all the way out at this point.

05:08And I don't expect you to get that 8, 9, 10, 12-point minutes

05:11that you would get to sort of bump you up over it

05:13if you have like a six or seven-point game.

05:15So it's both.

05:16It's two-fold for me, I should say.

05:18Just the way the game is going to be dictated playing from the referees,

05:21I don't think we get 40 free-throw attempts for each side.

05:23So I'm playing this to the under.

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