The New York Knicks are in a tough but not impossible position on Thursday night, as the team must win against the Indiana Pacers in Game 5 at home at MSG to stay alive in their Eastern Conference seconds round series after dropping the last game in bad fashion.
The team needs a big game from star Carmelo Anthony after his struggles earlier in the series and the problems for the Knicks can be traced back to that Game 4 against the Celtics where they couldn't close out the series. Now the team id down 3-1 to the Pacers and will have to figure out how to stop them on Thursday night after their 93-82 bashing in Game 4. Anthony had 24 points in the game, but the 26 from George Hill and the 14 rebounds and seven assist from Paul George were more than the Knicks could handle.
Tyson Chandler led the way in that game with 10 rebounds and Raymond Felton had six assists, but the team could not recover from an awful first half that saw them score 34 points and the Pacers were able to keep the lead for the rest of the way despite being outscored in the third quarter. The Knicks have gone 31-10 at home this season and they will need to play much better than they have in the series to win the final two games and advance.
The Miami Heat are through to the East finals for the third year in a row and the Bulls are now home after losing the series 3-1. The team got 23 points and eight rebounds from LeBron James, while Carlos Boozer led the way for the Bulls with 26 and 14 rebounds.
The Spurs are also on the verge of advancing against the Golden State Warriors and the Memphis Grizzlies are waiting already in the conference finals after defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder, the defending West champs. The spurs have been helped by strong play from Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, while Tim Duncan has been excellent as well. Parker had 25 points and 10 assist in Game 5 while Duncan added 10 rebounds and the team was able to shut down Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson for the 109-91 victory in Game 5. Harrison Barnes had 25 points and seven rebounds, but it wasn't enough as Curry was shut down in the game.
