Knicks vs. Pistons Playoff Preview: Match Analysis

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00:00The 3-6 will be the Knicks against the Pistons.

00:04And the Knicks, of course, with home court advantage

00:06are favorites in the series.

00:09Yeah, man, if I told Knicks fans,

00:12preseason, round number one,

00:15Detroit Pistons against the Knicks.

00:18Here we go.

00:19First of all, first of all,

00:22what are you talking about?

00:24See, you know, you know, JY, again,

00:27listen, I'm very kind, especially college season,

00:30NBA gloves come off.

00:32You walked in today and went,

00:33you guys ready for Detroit to eliminate the Knicks

00:35and Tibbs get fired in two weeks?

00:37It could happen.

00:38But it's me.

00:39It could happen.

00:40But it's me.

00:41I can do it because I'm a Knicks fan.

00:43And I'm a pessimistic Knicks fan.

00:44All right, come back to me.

00:46Very simply put, as a Knicks fan,

00:48should you be nervous about this series?

00:50Absolutely.

00:51Why?

00:52Because Jalen Brunson, we want to talk about,

00:54and I love JB.

00:55We talk about Damian Lillard being a cone on defense?

01:00You watch Jalen Brunson defensively?

01:02And this is where, as much as you love Brunson,

01:05you have a little bit of a problem with this team.

01:08The Knicks struggle against athletic, tough guards.

01:11And here is Cade at 6'4",

01:14who in the last, during the season,

01:16has given you, let's see, 22, 29, 36, 36.

01:22And who is going to be the one that's going to stop him?

01:25Now, that also means that Tom Thibodeau

01:27can't rely on playing his starters 40 minutes a night.

01:30So this is where the Tom Thibodeau debate starts to come in

01:33as the most unbiased Knicks fan on the planet.

01:36I said Knicks fan.

01:37He said Knicks fan.

01:37That's true.

01:38Give me that one.

01:39I still don't think that's true.

01:40Yes, absolutely.

01:41Because I think there is a world where Detroit could take out the Knicks.

01:46Do I think it's actually going to happen?

01:48I pray not.

01:49I think it's going to be about a six-game series,

01:52if you look at right now the Knicks being series spread minus 1.5,

01:55minus 144.

01:57But to me, this comes down to tips adjustment.

02:03And this is where people are going to think I'm crazy.

02:05I think the critical player in this series may be Deuce McBride.

02:11No.

02:12No.

02:13No.

02:14Listen to me.

02:15Because he's the only guard on that team that I think could stay in front of Cade

02:20and make it somewhat difficult.

02:22I'm not trusting Hart.

02:24I'm not trusting, obviously, Brunson.

02:27Mikel has been all over the place in this game.

02:30I think Deuce McBride is going to play a critical part in this series

02:33because someone's got to slow this guy down.

02:36I'm not saying that Deuce has got to get you 17, 18 points.

02:38I'm saying he's got to keep Cade 24, 23, or less.

02:43You can't give this guy 30 points a night.

02:45That's going to be a problem for New York if they do that,

02:47and they keep running Brunson to guard him.

02:49Here's my take on the Pistons.

02:51I believe Cade Cunningham should be in the MVP conversation.

02:55And that's solely based on – that's not based on the stats.

02:57I'm not saying he's as good as Jokic or SGA,

02:59but what he means to the team if we're actually talking about value,

03:02Cade Cunningham should be there.

03:03What they did this season.

03:05Point notwithstanding, when it comes to this matchup,

03:09the Knicks, as we know, if we were talking about pre-show,

03:11depth is an issue for them.

03:13Can they match up punch for punch with the Pistons

03:15based on their starting units?

03:17Yes.

03:18I think we'd all agree with that, right?

03:19Just solely based on the starting fives, the Knicks have the advantage.

03:22But after that, that's where the questions arise.

03:25To me, that's where the questions arise.

03:26And when Brunson is a liability out there,

03:30if Cade Cunningham does go off and he's averaging 30 a game,

03:33the Knicks are at risk.

03:35So when we're looking at the series price,

03:37I think there's very clear value to take the Pistons.

03:39Maybe not on the money line at plus 270,

03:41but you could certainly take the Pistons at plus 1.5.

03:45You maybe do something with the games or the total games in the series.

03:48I don't think betting on the Knicks is the right move for the series.

03:51I think betting on the Pistons is the side to have,

03:54regardless of the outcome.

03:54I think the Pistons is where you want to be.

03:57I will assuredly be on the other side, perhaps aggressively.

04:01I think that this is an instance where if Deuce McBride matters,

04:05it's because Brunson was injured.

04:07To me, Brunson is going to be guarding one of the shooters,

04:10whether that's Hardaway or Malik Beasley.

04:12If he can keep his legs about him and chase him off pin downs,

04:15that's going to be his responsibility.

04:17McCall Bridges' job is not to hold Cade Cunningham to 18.

04:20It's to hold him to 24, 25.

04:22Because Cade Cunningham is averaging 30 points per game against the Knicks this season.

04:26That's what McCall Bridges' job is to do.

04:29OG Ananobi should be able to ball up Tobias Harris and put him in his back pocket

04:33for however long this goes.

04:35The swing of this series should be Carl Anthony Towns,

04:42who is going to be second or third all NBA this year,

04:46comfortably outplaying Jalen Dern.

04:48And if that doesn't happen, again, the Knicks have much, much, much bigger problems.

04:54Thibodeau, by the way, who I don't even think is a great postseason coach,

04:57walked at J.B. Bickerstaff just two years ago when Cleveland,

05:01or a year ago when Cleveland was supposed to be hot up, two years ago,

05:04hot upcoming and ready to rock and roll.

05:08The Knicks should not have an issue here.

05:11The fact that people think they might is an indictment.

05:13See, will be alright.

05:18Here, if this is the end of the week,

05:35what's new is going to be?

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