48 Minutes: Pacers take 3-1 series lead over the Knicks| Haliburton Triple Double

0:00 .... Ross hello and welcome, introduces the panel, and dedicates show #158 to Jack McVeigh of the Houston Rockets who is the only NBA player to wear uniform #58.

1:33 ... Instant reaction to Tuesday night's game #4 of the Knicks/Pacers Eastern Conference Finals playoff series.

2:45 ... Bruce highlights the performances of Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin, and Pascal Siakam who were the biggest reasons Indiana took game #4 and grabbed a 3-1 series lead.

3:53 ... Ross pointed out how it was a game of runs but Indiana never allowed New York to really get close enough to threaten the Pacers.

4:55 ... World B was disgusted with the sloppy play of the Knicks and feels they need to reduce turnovers in game 5 if they hope to extend the series.  He is also concerned about the health of Karl-Anthony Towns who hurt his knee in the 4th quarter on Tuesday night.

7:23 ... The crew previews game 5 in New York and discusses if Tom Thibodeau will dial back his rotation as he did in the first two games.

10:17 ... Ross is concerned about how Towns will be perceived by the NY fans if he doesn't play in game 5 due to his knee.  Bruce needs Mikal Bridges to show up big in game #5, but World B points out how hard Bridges has to work on defense against Haliburton.

14:38 ... Ross tees up a brief discussion on how Thibodeau expanded his rotation and how Josh Hart nudged him into doing it by offering to come off the bench and allow Mitchell Robinson to start games 3 and 4.

16:00 ... Western Conference Finals discussion as Oklahoma City won Monday's game #4 to put a stranglehold on their series against Minnesota.  Bruce felt the tone was set in the first quarter.  World B says the series is over now that OKC has a 3-1 series lead and it was impressive how they bounced back from a 42 point loss on Saturday.  Ross agrees and praises Jalen Williams of the Thunder for his great performances.  Everyone feels the series is over except for the final result.  OKC's defense is the decisive factor.

23:25 ... Anthony Edwards needs a great performance in game 5 after scoring just 13 points in game 4.  World B feels he is not holding himself accountable.

24:18 ... Ross wants to praise Minnesota's Nickiell Alexander-Walker whose great postseason performances will help him find a team willing to pay him big bucks as a free agent this off-season.

24:50 .... Shai Gilgeous-Alexander beat Nikola Jokic for the MVP Award ... the guys discuss the large margin of victory in the voting and how both players were most deserving of the award.

28:13 ... All-NBA Team discussions ... On the first team the only quibble was Donovan Mitchell making it over Anthony Edwards, Jalen Brunson, and Stephen Curry.

30:33 .... On the second team, the guys discussed LeBron James making it in spite of ESPN's Brian Windhorst not voting him on any of the three All-NBA teams.

33:36 ... On the third team, Bruce bemoaned the fact that Jaylen Brown fell two games short of the 65 game minimum to qualify for All-NBA.  Bruce felt he would have made the third team, but sacrificed an individual award in order to be healthier for the playoffs and Bruce is really annoyed at some Celtics fans who are blaming Brown for the team's earlier than expected postseason exit.  World B felt Tyler Herro should have made third team over James Harden.  Ross pointed out that if not for injury, Victor Wembanyama would also have probably made 2nd or 3rd team All-NBA and probably also won Defensive Player of the Year.

37:08 ... Smokin' Hot Take from World B ... Cade Cunningham will be first team All-NBA next season.  This bodes well for the Pistons ascending into the top 4 in the eastern conference next season.

40:10 ... Final Thoughts ... Bruce on how OKC's comeback from a 42 point loss to Minnesota last weekend reminds him of two former NBA Championship teams that had similar experiences 40 seasons ago: