NBA Playoffs 2013 schedule: Grizzlies knot Thunder; Knicks cruise

Should the Thunder be playing Kendrick Perkins less? Does Scott Brooks pay attention to plus-minus? Are Kendrick Perkins’ hands made of actual stone?

Doesn’t matter. We’re not here to discuss basketball today. We’re taking a break.

But those teammates! Melo can play fine, but the teammates have to be productive for wins to happen. Let’s discuss some guys who had marked improvements on their Game 1 efforts.

Oh, and this happened:

However, the Knicks would prove dominant as the end of the third quarter drew near. The defense tightened up and the offense started rolling as everything Indiana tried proved futile. The Pacers didn’t score in the fourth quarter for the first seven minutes or so as New York went on a 35-13 run to close out the game.

All told, New York took back the reins with a victory that must have utterly demoralized Pacers fans after plenty of questions in Game 1.

Anthony finished with 32 points and nine rebounds, with 11 of those points coming during the big run. The Knicks’ star went 4-of-6 from the field in the fourth quarter and 13-of-26 for the game, marking the first time he shot 50 percent since April 12.

After losing Game 1, the Knicks came out with a vengeance on Tuesday, going up 29-20 after one quarter. The Pacers managed to keep it close despite a ton of turnovers, cutting their deficit to five at the half. Indiana actually took the lead briefly in the third quarter before falling apart.

Conley pulled up from the right elbow and nailed a jumper at the 1:04 mark to give the Grizzlies a 94-90 lead on a high pick-and-roll. The on-ball defender couldn’t get to him in time, and he drilled the open look to seal the Thunder’s fate. On the next play, the Thunder committed a turnover after a miss and subsequent offensive rebound.

Zach Randolph and Gasol combined for 39 points and 13 rebounds to help dominate the game inside, where the Thunder are lacking. Memphis took control in the first half and got out to an early halftime lead, 51-54, behind the stellar play of Gasol and Randolph, who combined for 26 points during that stretch. They held the Thunder to just 37.5 percent shooting in the first quarter before the home team caught fire in the second. Veteran Derek Fisher had an outstanding half and poured in 14 points off the bench, with 13 coming in the second quarter alone.

First, this:

Then, this:

SB Nation’s own Rodger Sherman put together this preview of tonight’s game and explored some good questions. Let’s revisit those:

The Grizzlies’ defense is well aware of the fact that Durant and Martin torched them in Game 1 for 60 points, and from the opening tip, they keyed in on both to take the ball out of their hands. So far, it’s worked, and they’ll need to maintain it in order to keep the pressure on the complementary players.

That was not the case in the fourth quarter Tuesday. The Knicks dropped the fight on the Knicks and dismantled the Indiana Pacers in just about every way imaginable; in fact, the only imaginable way in which the Knicks could have been better over a stretch of 11:32 between the third and fourth quarters was if they didn’t allow that one, lonely basket during a 30-2 run.

Runs of that magnitude are certainly not normal, but the Knicks were adamant in the post-game news conference that nothing about the game’s deciding stretch was fluky.

Indiana’s first field goal of the fourth quarter was an Orlando Johnson three with 3:09 to play. The Pacers had gone 12 minutes and 19 seconds without a made field goal before the make.

Before Indiana seemed to throw in the towel, it had done a fine job of hanging with the Knicks after a slow start. The Pacers led as late as the three-minute mark in the third quarter.

Felton’s status to return is unclear. The Knicks led 72-66 at the end of the third quarter.

• Flannery: NBA playoffs are the stuff of dreams

Someone check his pulse.

Earlier today, Reggie Miller tweeted this:

But I think Spike Lee wins this round.

De-fense! De-fense! De-ohhhhh.

The New York Knicks answered Sunday’s Game 1 home loss to the Indiana Pacers with a complete first half in Tuesday’s Game 2. The Knicks set the pace defensively and had help across the floor on offense on the way to a 47-42 halftime lead over Indiana. The Pacers scored eight straight points to close out the first half to bring the margin from New York’s largest lead to within five.

New York was 21-of-44 from the field in the first half (47.7 percent), but it didn’t arrive at that figure by way of a particularly hot Carmelo Anthony or hitting a bunch of threes. Instead, the Knicks excelled around the basket and in the midrange game. SB Nation’s Rodger Sherman previewed Game 2 with three questions, and upon further inspection, it’s clear the Knicks did, at least in the first half, exactly what was deemed vital to avoid falling into an 0-2 hole headed to Indiana.

Or enjoy the video version with an exploding Madison Square Garden:

• Flannery: NBA playoffs are the stuff of dreams

The differences were so slim in Game 1. Oklahoma City had 43 rebounds, Memphis 41. Oklahoma City had 10 turnovers, Memphis 11.

Game time: 9:30 p.m. ET

TV: TNT

Odds: Oklahoma City opened as a 3-point favorite.

Game time: 7 p.m. ET

TV: TNT

Odds: New York opened as a 5.5-point favorite.

Here are three questions about Tuesday night’s Game 2, as New York attempts to tie up the series.

Durant has done his part so far, turning in dominant performance after dominance performance since Westbrook went down in the middle of the first round. His Game 1 effort against Memphis -- 35 points on 26 shots, 15 rebounds, six assists -- was the stuff of champions, but he’ll need to sustain that effort against a vicious Grizzlies defense.

Over in New York, the pressure is similarly looming on Anthony and the Knicks, but a loss Tuesday would have some radically different implications. If the Knicks head back to Indiana, where the Pacers are 33-11 including the playoffs this season, staring at a 2-0 deficit, it would practically spell doom for the Knicks’ hopes of reaching the East finals.