Knicks/Sixers, Spurs/Wolves
For those who enjoy talls, have we got a Monday for you.
EASTERN SEMIFINALS PREVIEW
No. 3 NEW YORK KNICKS
C: Karl-Anthony Towns – 8-13 in one one Sixer contest and 15-35 in three others, fouled out in one meeting with Philadelphia. Aware of the history between these two pivotmen but I'm not worried about KAT unless he tries too hard to make a figurative point.
F: OG Anunoby – the man turned it over twice (twice!!) in (a team-high) 214 minutes against the Hawks, 21 and 9 with two steals and a block against Atlanta, 61/57/77. Bit of a roll right now but doesn't match up nearly as well with Philadelphia. The Sixer wings do not compare favorably with Anunoby's burly frame but they are longer and slappier than their ATL counterparts, refs can't call everything. OG clanged 8-9 shots in one regular season game against PHILA, combined to hit 16-26 in two others.
F: Josh Hart – did not connect from the field but contributed 6, 7, and 9 assists in three games against Philly this season, did his usual on the boards. Used to working to keep himself from looking redundant, understands his value isn't predicated on whether or not his threes go in. Could find himself locked on Tyrese Maxey before series is through and, sure, have fun with that.
SF: Mikal Bridges – averaged 15 shots per game against Philly in the regular season, a lot, 16-5-5. Must make the Sixers work, the swingmen have to worry about Bridges if the Knicks are to make quick work of the underdog.
PG: Jalen Brunson – couple of 31-point games against the Sixers, plenty of places to hide him defensively in this series. Can he be a threat off the ball? Can he be a body in defensive transition?
Mitchell Robinson against Andre Drummond will be worth everything, especially after those two barely had to sweat against Atlanta and Boston's backup bigs. Actually, that's not fair, Mitchell and Drummond sweated. Sweated a lot.
Drummond does not want to leave defensive rebounding position, the Knicks can work this for Mitchell Buckets, which count the same as regular buckets but feel way different ... Jordan Clarkson ran large minutes against the Sixers in the regular season, I cannot overstate how much these two sides are overfamiliar with each other save for Jose Alvarado, and there's no way Jose likes the Sixers. I didn't mean to do that but I'm leaving it in.
Jose's 47-minute totals against Atlanta: 26 points, six boards, eight assists, five steals, a block, three turnovers, 9-20 from the floor, 5-10 from deep, six fouls, good times.
