My Prediction: Pacers in 6.
Best Plus Minus / Most Valuable Player: JR Smith (+32 in 191 minutes). Most o this number is built on the back of the Game 2 Knicks rout (+27 in that game, +5 in the rest of the series). When Smith is on, the Knicks have two scorers and three complementary players. When he's off, they have one. He was off. That doesn't change what he is: an X-factor. Every team still in the playoffs has some player with a stunning ratio of swagger to everyday production (Tony Allen, Manu Ginobli, Lance Stephenson, Mario Chalmers), but that guy can win you one game in a playoff series. That's J.R., for better or worse. I can't wait to see how GM's value that skill in free agency, because I don't have a clue.
Worst Plus Minus / Least Valuable Player: Raymond Felton (-28 in 208 minutes). Felton honestly didn't have a great series, and without his season-long pick-and-roll partner, he wasn't going to generate a ton of efficient against the long-armed Pacer defense. I wonder what happened to that partner of his...
Jerome James Award: Tyson Chandler. Major accolades can often have more to do with offense than defense in the NBA. That's no one's fault in particular, we have better metrics to look at offense. So, I was one of the people who applauded when Chandler got a third team All-NBA nod last year, since his variety of playing one side of the court well happened to be defense. Well, All-NBA players have to bear the brunt of criticism when your production declines. Take a look at the regular season and postseason numbers:
Regular Season Averages: 33 minutes, 10.4 pts (64% FG), 10.7 reb, 1.1 blocks
Postseason Averages: 29 minutes, 5.7 pts (54% FG), 7.3 reb, 1.2 blocks
Combine those numbers with Roy Hibbert's two-way field day during the series, and I'd say there should probably be a little more blame heading Chandler's way.
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