Melo's Clutch Jumper Tops Pacers, Playoffs Looming for Both Teams

On Sunday night I had the chance to attend the New York Knicks vs. Indiana Pacers game at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis and, wow, was it a treat. The two teams went back and forth all game long, with no team able to extend their lead much past seven, and with four seconds to go, Carmelo Anthony drilled the go-ahead basket that proved to be the game winner. The Knicks won 110-109 for their seventh win in a row and moved up into the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference. Anthony finished with 34 points despite sitting a prolonged period of time in the second half due to foul trouble. New York was without Amare Stoudamire but Anthony and Chauncey Billups stepped up in his absence. For Indiana, it was a disappointing defeat after playing well for the majority of the game, but failing to find consistent offense down the stretch in the fourth quarter. Danny Granger scored 17 points in the first half but was held to three in the second half and his potential game-winning jumper was blocked by Anthony.

After watching Indiana play it is clear they aren't going to be a breeze for the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the playoffs. Do I think the Bulls will lose the series or that it will go seven games? No, not a chance, but the Pacers are a young, scrappy bunch and they should play the Bulls to a few tough games and, perhaps, steal one from them. They are the only Central Division team that beat Chicago this year and they match up well with the Bulls lineup. The Pacers play 11-12 guys and are a deep team, but the one thing they are lacking is that superstar and closer. Danny Granger can be that guy but last night he wasn't. A superstar can't score only three points in the second half and disappear in the final five minutes of the game. That's one thing the Bulls have going for them. Derrick Rose has been phenomenal this season and the MVP trophy is all his, no arguments. He is averaging 25 points, 4 rebounds and nearly 8 assists per game and has perfected that closer role for the Bulls this year. The Pacers use three point guards in Darren Collison, A.J. Price and T.J. Ford with Collison getting most of the minutes. There may not be a faster player in the league than him and how well he matches up with Rose will surely dictate how the series will go for Indiana. In the post the Pacers have Tyler Hansbrough and Roy Hibbert to go up against Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah. Granger and Luol Deng will be a nice matchup to watch and then Paul George will guard Keith Bogans/Ronnie Brewer. The Pacers are on the way back to success but with such a young, inexperienced team don't expect an upset over Chicago.

New York is the mystery team in the East. They can be really good, like this seven game win streak, or they can be just plain awful like their six game losing streak at the end of March. With Anthony, Billups and Stoudamire in the lineup, the Knicks can score at will but the one thing hindering them is their defense. It is their style to score 100+ points and give up the same amount and that's not good come playoff time. Sure, they can guard somebody but they don't. They will face either the Celtics or the Heat and both teams can match the Knicks point-for-point while playing solid defense. If the Knicks play the Heat they won't win. They could push the series to six or seven games but, just like Mike D'Antoni's Phoenix teams, the lack of defense will hurt them. However, if the Knicks play the Celtics then they have a realistic shot at beating them. Without Kendrick Perkins or Shaquille O'Neal in the paint, the C's have lost their identity and they no longer seem like the big, bad bully on the block. Both the Bulls and the Heat have thumped Boston in the past week and New York may be able to pull of the upset.

The Eastern Conference playoffs should be very exciting to watch. Are the Heat good enough to make it to the Finals? Are the Celtics still the same, old Celtics we have come to expect? Are the Bulls really as good as their record indicates? There are questions all around the conference as the playoffs get ready to start and it should be a wild few weeks. It's fun to see teams getting into playoff mode and games getting chippy (take a look at Jermaine O'Neal's foul on LeBron James from Sunday) and who will emerge to take on the Lakers, Thunder or Spurs out West? They say the NBA is where amazing happens and we should be treated to some amazing basketball starting in just a few days.

Photo courtesy of Darron Cummings (AP Photo)