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Philippines, 25 May 2025 |
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Going Back to Indiana, Get Ready With the Brooms? Minnesota Hopes to Bounce Back at Home Vs OKC By Teodoro Medina Reynoso PhilBoxing.com Sun, 25 May 2025  The surprising, shocking Indiana Pacers return home for the next two games against a visibly frustrated New York Knicks, holding a commanding 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves get back to their familiar playing environment in Minneapolis, hoping to bounce back against current league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder, who gave them quite a drubbing in the first two games in Oklahoma. At this point, rabid Indiana Pacers fans are apt to bring out their brooms, expecting the home team to sweep the series after the big disappointment of last season, where the Pacers were themselves swept by eventual champion Boston Celtics. What made that defeat painful was that the Celtics finished the Pacers right in Indianapolis. However, coach Rick Carlisle calls for caution, as the Pacers were not unbeatable at home during the recent regular season. Carlisle also stated that the postseason is a different matter altogether, and that New York is a tough, tough opponent that has eliminated no less than the defending champion Boston. Pacers fans, however, have reasons to be confident. The team now has the versatile Pascal Siakam, who is a proven competitor since his Toronto NBA championship days. And apart from the fact that Tyrese Haliburton is playing like an All-Star, the other young core of last season's team, such as Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard, T.J. McConnell, and Obi Toppin, have matured and become even more competitive. Myles Turner has remained very steady manning the slot. Carlisle has also developed Indiana into a relentless team that keeps coming at you on offense and defense, which makes previous postseason victims, the Milwaukee Bucks and no other than East top seed Cleveland Cavaliers, wonder where they are getting that type of energy. The Knicks themselves got a sample of such peskiness in the first two games in New York, which they lost despite superlative performances from Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns and above-par output from such players as O.G. Anunoby, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges. Knowing that New York will live or die with its high-precision offense built around these stalwarts, there is no doubting that the Knicks will continue with the same approach, perhaps hoping for some luck with Mitchell Robinson's disruptive presence on the other end. However, coach Tom Thibodeau has insisted on continuing to use only eight to nine players to execute his game plan, which some pundits say is among the main causes of the Knicks' sputtering finish in the first two games. That cannot be discounted, as visibly, Brunson and Towns were so fatigued they were breathing heavily. Will it finally work? We will see come Game 3 on Sunday (8 a.m. Monday Manila time). Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves hope to get re-energized playing on their home territory and cheered on by their home fans. After getting routed in the opening game, the Timberwolves gave the Thunder a better competition in the second game, despite Anthony Edwards almost solely carrying the scoring load as coach Chris Finch decided to keep Julius Randle on the bench in the second half after an unproductive stint in the first period. Randle's absence, however, fired up Jaden McDaniels, who helped Edwards on offense aside from contributing on defense and clearing the boards. It will be interesting to see how Finch will approach the third game, set today. Editor's note: Minnesota Timberwolves routed Oklahoma City Thunder 143-101 in today's Game 3 of their Western Conference Final series at Target Center in Minnesota. OKC still leads the series over Minnesota, 2-1. The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.  |
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