Thursday night marked the end of the Bucks’ post-season campaign. Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers disposed of the East’s much-touted ‘Championship contender’ in just 6 games. Now they will be facing the New York Knicks, who should present a tougher matchup for the Indiana side. Tyrese Haliburton‘s Game 6 heroics have broken the decade-long playoff drought in Indiana. They will look to continue their winning ways against the Knicks, which shouldn’t be a difficult task, as per some resurfaced comments of TNT analysts Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal from months ago.
Regardless of the Knicks’ great form all season long, NBA legends Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley already have the Pacers stealing the contest, as per predictions the duo made almost a month ago. During an Inside the NBA broadcast, Barkley aired his views on a then hypothetical playoff matchup between the Knicks and Pacers, “If they play in the playoffs…the Pacers beat the Knicks.”
The X account of New York Basketball recently resurfaced a clip of the comments. In the clip, Shaq could also be seen agreeing with the Chuckster’s assessment, “I agree with you Chuck.”
Fast forward to present times, and Barkley is still standing his ground. After the Pacers made light work of Damian Lillard and the Bucks in the first round, Sir Charles was informed of the upcoming Pacers-Knicks matchup for the second round of the playoffs. Remembering his predictions from a month ago, Barkley provided his insights on the upcoming series,
“I think it’s going to be a fabulous series. Personally, I like the Pacers in the series. I think their depth and their scoring ability are going to be a huge advantage for them.”
Looking at the two teams’ regular season records against each other, it’s obvious that the Pacers have emerged as the better team on most occasions. The Indiana team had a 2-1 advantage over New York side in this year’s season series. But it’s important to note that both teams have shown great form since then. The Indiana side has gotten significantly better adding 2-time All-Star Pascal Siakam to their fold. Meanwhile, Knicks fans will be counting on Jalen Brunson’s meteoric rise as a MVP-caliber player to take them home.
Fans react to Shaq and Barkley’s hot take ahead of the Knicks-Pacers series
While addressing possible concerns for Haliburton and the Pacers ahead of their Knicks matchup, TNT hosts Shaq and Barkley named the fans in New York as being one of the biggest headaches to deal with for the opposing team in a playoff setting. What the duo forgot was that Knicks fans don’t just go after their rivals, but also members of the media who choose to bet against their home team.
Knicks fans did just that, storming the comments section of the post that showcased Barkley and Shaq picking the Pacers over the Knicks. The fans didn’t go easy on the two Hall Of Famers at all. One fan wrote,
“Bro, what r these guys smoking?”
Another fan doubled down on the duo’s lack of enthusiasm for the game, asking them if they even watched the games properly,
“They don’t watch the teams. The Pacers have zero defense.”
Setting the expectations for the upcoming series, another fan correctly pointed out,
“We can’t act surprised if the Pacers win this series. The Knicks are down two key pieces and the Pacers are coming in being the far healthier team.”
Heading into the series opener at MSG, both teams and their star players are looking better than ever. While a Haliburton-Brunson matchup should be one for the history books, in reality, player availability and injuries will be the most crucial factor in the upcoming series, as both teams eye a berth in the upcoming Eastern Conference Finals.
