NBA News & Fantasy Basketball Notes 5/17

May 17th 2024

Ryan Schwepfinger

Each day, this column will provide live updates for all NBA news. Enjoy up-to-the-minute alerts for injuries and lineup confirmations. The Key News to Watch section will highlight notable injuries to monitor for the current NBA slate.

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New York Knicks News

Confirmed Lineup: Jalen Brunson, Miles McBride, Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Hart, Isaiah Hartenstein

  • OG Anunoby (hamstring) — Out

  • Mitchell Robinson (ankle) — Injured

  • Julius Randle (shoulder) — Out for season

  • Bojan Bogdanovic (foot, wrist) — Out for season

Brunson's monster performance in Game 5 was a huge sigh of relief for Knicks fans, as he put to rest any concerns about his banged up foot hindering his performance. He snapped a streak of three straight games under 30 points with a 44-point, seven-assist explosion, shooting 51.4% from the field. It was Brunson's fifth game of 40 or more points in this postseason alone.

With Anunoby remaining out for this game, the biggest storyline for the Knicks will once again be depth and workload management. Due to Game 5's blowout, coach Thibodeau was able to slightly manage minutes, with only Brunson exceeding 40. At the very least, his comfort level in playing both Precious Achiuwa and Alec Burks regular minutes off the bench in a seven-man rotation should also help moving forward should New York advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Indiana Pacers News

Confirmed Lineup: Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner

  • Bennedict Mathurin (shoulder) — Out for season

The Pacers hit a roadblock in Game 5 at Madison Square Garden, and similar to Game 1, one of the biggest reasons may have been Haliburton's unwillingness, or inability, to get aggressive. He logged just a 16.8% usage rate in the contest, attempting nine shots and scoring just 13 points. His box score wasn't quite as bad as Game 1's six points on 11.6% usage, but it's clear that the Pacers will need Haliburton at his best in order to win this series. He recorded a 29.9% usage rate in Games 2-4, averaging 29.7 points, 7.0 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game over that span.