Game 2 Thoughts

After wins by the Pacers and Thunder in game 1 of their respective series, their opponents came roaring back Tuesday to tie the series at 1 game apiece. Here are a few thoughts on how teams executed or failed to execute their game plan in their respective games.

MEM-OKC

In game 2 Tuesday night, the Memphis Grizzlies controlled the tempo of the game in Oklahoma City to hold off the Thunder. In what may have been Mike Conley’s best game of the playoffs, the Grizzlies continued to do what they had been doing all year: repeatedly pounding the ball into their post players to create healthy and successful looks for their offense. Randolph and Gasol combined in this game for a total of 85 minutes played (!), and if these bigs can continue to play productive extended minutes for Memphis, Scott Brooks is going to have to get some productive minutes from his big men defensively to combat this 1-2 punch. Gasol and Randolph flat out dominated Perkins, Ibaka, Collison, and Thabeet in game 2, combining for 39 points on 25 shots with only 2 turnovers.

If Memphis continues to grind out wins in this fashion they won’t be beat by anyone; they controlled the tempo, got good looks, and didn’t turn the ball over. They even held OKC to only 7 transition points, a critical development going forward in this series. Defensively, if OKC wants to have a chance they’re going to have to get more production out of their big men. This is mainly Collison, Ibaka, and Perkins; to call Scott Brooks’ decision to play Hasheem Thabeet a total of 13 minutes confusing would be an understatement.

Randolph had Ibaka’s number Tuesday night, baiting him into loose ball fouls on rebounds, getting good post position, and getting to the line often. Randolph was a crucial component of Ibaka getting into foul trouble with 5 fouls, and this matchup really could be the matchup that decides the series.

However, Memphis’ game changer in game 2 turned out to be Mike Conley. Conley, who is usually a very mediocre offensive point guard had 26 points on 50% shooting as well as 9 assists, 10 rebounds, and some clutch buckets at the end to seal the game for Memphis. This was very unexpected, and it would be unfair to expect this production coming out of him going forward, but it really was a masterful performance. Conley is perfectly capable of getting into the lane and creating offense for other teammates, but he does have trouble finishing around the rim, so again, his success depends somewhat on the defensive performance of OKC’s big men.

For the Thunder, again the key to watch is the allotment of minutes to one-dimensional players. Kevin Martin specifically has been very hit or miss this postseason, and given his dreadful all around defensive performance, it’ll be interesting to see how long Scott Brooks keeps him on the floor. When he’s hot and can actually space the floor, his offensive value far outweighs his defensive deficiencies. However, when he shoots like he did Tuesday, Thabo Sefolosha is a far better alternative. Sefelosha doesn’t space the floor like K-Mart can, but he is a passable three-point shooter, his defense is borderline elite, and he is a very underrated passer.

If the Thunder are to have a chance in this series, they must find a decent wingman scorer for Kevin Durant, scrape together some easy transition points by pushing the tempo on Memphis, and get some better defensive production out of their big men.

IND-NY

The Knicks benefitted from a spectacular offensive performance on Tuesday, after Carmelo Anthony had finally appeared to find his jumpshot. Putbacks, offensive rebounds, and even some spectacular dunks were part of the Knicks’ offensive arsenal in this beat down, and Indiana has a lot of work to do in tweaking their defense to contain this Knicks offense.

The problem, however, was the abundance of turnovers committed by the Pacers; Indiana turned it over 21 times, more of these careless turnovers than forced by the Knicks defense. There’s no hope for the Pacers’ offense if it plays this carelessly; they actually got some decent looks on plays in which they didn’t turn the ball over by running some very meticulous pick and rolls and back cuts to the basket.

One thing the Knicks did do very well was containing the Pacers big men. David west was constantly being shoved around on the block, and was swarmed with defenders every time he touched the ball. He was double-teamed, fronted, and swiped at which really seemed to get him out of his comfort zone. He turned the ball over twice, and only scored 13 points. Hibbert didn’t fare well either with only 6 points on 7 shots.

This development is going to be the key to this series; if New York can continue to collapse and attack the Pacers bigs before they have a chance to get into a rhythm I don’t think Indiana’s offense will be able to survive. New York doesn’t have nearly the defensive talent that Indiana does, but if they can continue to stifle these post players just enough, they can most likely rely on their outstanding offense to carry them to victory.

This offense certainly deserves some recognition, especially against this Pacers defense. Indiana had the number one defense in the league during the regular season, and New York was able to get into the lane, find open shooters, and even took advantage of the Pacers on the offensive boards. Vogel has Indiana playing very conservative on defense, as Hibbert drops deep into the lane on this Pablo Prigioni pick and roll.

Hibbert drops deep into the lane to contain every pick and roll New York throws at him simply to protect the basket, even on good shooters like Prigioni and Anthony. This conservative strategy surrenders a good shot while protecting a great one (shot at the rim), but there has to be some kind of balance, and dropping this deep into the lane is going to yield some easy looks for New York going forward.

Another noteworthy topic regarding this series is the bench play; Indiana’s bench has severely underperformed, really for the past two seasons. Vogel has been able to play Hibbert more minutes as of late (36 on Tuesday), which is a very encouraging sign, but even the 12 minutes he sits is disastrous for Indiana. Ian Mahinmi brings nearly nothing to the table; he has terrible hands, is a weak defensive player, and has no idea how to pass. D.J. Augustine has shown promise off the bench for the Pacers, but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to New York’s bench with J.R. Smith, Jason Kidd, and Kenyon Martin.

I picked Indiana to win this series, and despite New York’s impressive performance last night I still stick with my decision. Indiana is too talented on both sides of the ball, and as long as they get decent production off the bench as well as utilize their advantages in the post they should hold on and win this series.