@ <span style="color:#FF8C00">New York Knicks(9-15)</span><span style="color:#FF8C00">Projected Starters: Stephon Marbury, Jamal Crawford, Quentin Richardson, Jared Jeffries, Eddy Curry</span>[/b]<span style="color:#000080">Key Bench players: David Lee, Nate Robinson, Renaldo Balkman</span><span style="color:#FFA500">Indiana Pacers(12-12)</span><span style="color:#FFA500">Projected Starters: Jamal Tinsley, Stephen Jackson, Al Harrington, Jermaine O'neal, Jeff Foster</span><span style="color:#000080">Bench Players: Danny Granger, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Shawne Williams, Darrell Armstrong</span><span style="color:#008000">Injury Report:</span> <span style="color:#483D8B">Indiana:</span>David Harrison- Out- Shoulder Marquis Daniels- Questionable- Illenss<span style="color:#FF8C00">New York:</span> Kelvin Cato- Que, Jeff Foster will have to play strong defense at the center position on Eddy Curry, who is playing like an all star center this stionable- Foot Channing Frye- Out- Ankle Steve Francis- Out- Knee<span style="color:#FF0000">Valo's X-Factors:</span><span style="color:#FF8C00">For the Knicks</span>, Jared Jeffries is going to have to step up to the plate here, when he has to D up Jermaine O'neal. This will be a tough assignment to draw in only his second or third start of the season. Pressure him on the defensive side of the floor, and get him off of his game offensively and the Knicks will stand a good chance of winning this game.<span style="color:#FFA500">For the Pacers,</span> Jeff Foster will be the X-factor, with his defense on Eddy Curry. Eddy Curry this year is looking like an all-star center, and one that can cause alot of problems down low. Curry seems like he is faster, and way more explosive this year than any season in the past. The Knicks should be trying to get him the ball often this game, if Jeff Foster can play decent defense and get him off his game, it could be bad for the Knicks.<span style="color:#4169E1">Valo's Key Matchups:</span><span style="color:#8B0000">Stephon Marbury against Jamal Tinsley</span>, the battle of point guards will be a huge part of this game. Whoever gets their team in the flow of their offense, and paces their team the best will win this game. Defensively, whoever can play the best, I think will give their team a good chance to win tonight.<span style="color:#000000">Valo's thoughts</span>: The Pacers are on a five game home winning streak, including three wins over the Pistons, Cavaliers and Magic. Not only that, all three of those, the Pacers have won by double digits. They are 7 and 2 at home this season, their last loss was on November 17 to New Jersey. These guys are tough at home, and I think tonight will be no different. For the Knicks, this will be Isaih Thomas's first time returning as a head coach since he was released by Rick Carlisle. Stephen Jackson has been playing very good ball since he was dismissed from the team for two games, showing that he is a good player, and valuable asset to this team when he is on the court. For the Knicks, they have split their last eight games.<span style="color:#FF0000">Valo's predictions:</span> I think this could be a good game, but I think Pacers continue their home winning streak and beat the Knicks tonight behind strong performances from Harrington, Granger off the bench and Stephen Jackson.
this is a big test on where eddy is at in the nba. if he can hold his own against jermaine o' neal I think he's arrived officially. jermaine is an excellent post player and defender and he always does well against curry by frustrating him on D. let's do it steady eddy!!!!
Well that sucks, Eddy Curry got two fouls early, and will probably be on the bench for the rest of the half. I was looking forward to watching him today. Crawford is playing real well though, 12 points in the first quarter on 5 of 7 shooting. He is really playing nicely today. The Knicks so far are winning 24-22, playing real well.edit: Nevermind, he is back in the game now. This Knicks team is half court trapping to start the quarter, and actually pressuring the Pacers really well. I like this for a change of pace real quick, get the team to use their superior athleticism.edit #2: Why does Nate Robinson keep going for the block, I know he can jump, but he's 5'9. The slightest pump fake brings him off his feet for the block, and he trys to block from behind which let Sarunas go to the lane for free throws. There was no guarantee he was going to hit that jump shot, so it was not a good foul at all. Robinson needs to quit leaving his feet, that's just bad defensive basketball decisions.
