The NBA Playoffs are off to a fast start in the first round and with the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs already resting after sweeping the Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers and after the Nuggets and Warriors and the Clippers and Grizzlies played on Tuesday, the Knicks and Celtics face off in Game 5 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.
After winning the first three games of the series, the Knicks lost game 4 in Boston and now are in position to win their first postseason series in a decade with a victory on Wednesday night. Carmelo Anthony has been excellent throughout the series while averaging nearly 30 points per game and the Knicks will have JR Smith back after he was out for Game 5. The Knicks were hoping to sweep out the series in Boston after playing so well to end the season and they will try to end things on Wednesday to take out any hope of the Celtics of coming back from an 0-3 deficit, which no team has ever done. The Knicks went 31-10 at home this past season and will be motivated to win their series against the Celtics in front of their home crowd.
The Atlanta Hawks defeated the Indiana Pacers in Game 4 to tie the series at 2-2 after falling down early in the series and the team looks like it has the momentum heading into Game 5 behind strong play from Al Horford and Josh Smith. The Pacers have gone 30-11 at home this past season while the Hawks have gone just 19-22 on the road and will need another strong game from the big duo. David West has been averaging nearly 20 points per game and Roy Hibbert will need to contribute for the Pacers to get back on track.
The Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder have had one of the most intriguing series of the playoffs despite the Thunder going up 3-0 at one point, as Russell Westbrook was knocked out in game two for the playoffs after a collision with rookie Patrick Beverley. Jeremy Lin has also been banged up, while James Harden finally won a game against his old team after leading the Rockets to a Game 4 victory. The series returns to Oklahoma City for Game 5 where the Thunder have gone 34-7 at home while the Rockets have gone 16-25 on the road.
Kevin Durant has been excellent while playing without Westbrook for the first time in his career and scored 41 and 38 points without him in the lineup and he will need to continue that production as the playoffs go on for the Thunder to get back to the finals for the second straight year. Many experts see Miami as the favorite in the East and the Knicks will try to move on to challenge them in the conference finals, while the Spurs will get rest as they wait for the Western conference first round to settle.
