Pacers or Knicks: Chris Mannix weighs in on ideal eastern conference finals opponent for Celtics
This morning on Toucher & Hardy, Fred asked Chris Mannix from Sports Illustrated about the Celtics making it to the Eastern Conference Finals and who’d be a better match for them. Mannix talked about how facing Indiana or New York would differ, mentioning Indiana’s speed and health versus New York’s injury situation. They also kicked around the Celtics’ playoff ride and how handling tougher games earlier might help them in close playoff battles.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Fred Toucher: All right. Now, who do you want the Celtics to play? Don’t go through both matchups. How would playing in Indiana differ from playing in New York?
Chris Mannix from Sports Illustrated: I think the biggest difference would be the pace of play. Indiana plays fast, especially since they got Tyrese Haliburton a year ago. They like to push the tempo and are healthier right now compared to the Knicks, who have about 60% of their starting lineup injured. However, despite this, the Pacers have been a major disappointment this postseason, given the favorable path they’ve had with key players injured in other teams. They’re down 3-2 going into game six on Friday. So if I were Boston, I’d prefer to play Indiana because I question their mental toughness compared to New York. On paper, New York might seem like a better matchup due to their injuries, but I’m not impressed with Indiana’s performance this postseason.
Wallach: How does this affect the Celtics’ playoff run? They had a great regular season offensively but faced some injured teams to reach the Eastern Conference finals. Does this mean they haven’t been truly tested yet, especially if they face an injured New York or an untested Indiana next?
Chris Mannix from Sports Illustrated: I like that the Celtics have had some competitive games recently, especially the ones where they had to make plays in crunch time, even if they lost some like in game two. One concern was whether they could perform in clutch moments given their lack of close games during the regular season. They had a historically high point differential, indicating they didn’t play many close games. By facing tougher challenges in the first two rounds, I believe it’s preparing them better for the conference finals. If anyone could have beaten Boston, it would have been in the first round when they had to adjust their style of play. Now, having gone through a couple of rounds, they may not be at their best yet, but they’re more ready for tight playoff games than they were before.
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