Source: New York Post
Tony Bradley hadn’t played much for the Pacers in the postseason at that point last year, and he wouldn’t play in the Eastern Conference finals until the second game, but he still watched as Tyrese Haliburton’s last-second heave stunned the Knicks by forcing overtime in Game 1. And Bradley saw how that draining result — the Knicks’ double-digit lead late in regulation evaporated completely — carried over into the next game that Indiana won, too. That’s why Bradley, now a backup center for the Hawks facing the possibility of an expanded role this series, knows the importance of stealing that first game to “set the tone,” which Atlanta will have the chance to do at the Garden when the first-round series opens Saturday.