With Tyson Chandler, Knicks Win Argument Over Style Against Pacers Tyson Chandler can go an entire game without taking a single dribble, but he is second only to Carmelo Anthony when it comes to creating good shots for the Knicks. In their four-out offense, Chandler is the all-important, all-screening "dive man," the explosive finisher who rumbles down the lane off a pick-and-roll and forces the defense to leave the Knicks" shooters to prevent an easy dunk. In the Knicks" 88-76 victory over the Pacers on Sunday, Chandler scored only 7 points, but his impact was evident throughout. Along with Anthony, Chandler forms a dynamic front line that is dominating traditional forward-center lineups like Indiana's, which features David West and Roy Hibbert. Both West and Hibbert are skilled enough to convert an open 18-foot jump shot, but Indiana's offense often feeds them for post-ups near the basket. The idea Sunday was that Indiana would use its superior size to overwhelm the Knicks" smaller, faster players, as the Memphis Grizzlies did Friday in handing the Knicks their only loss this season. Before the game, West compared the Knicks to the Steve Nash-era Phoenix Suns, "with three guards and a forward." "We just got to make adjustments," West said. But we can't change too much in terms of what we do. Steve Novak echoed West from the Knicks" locker room, insisting that his team would stick with its philosophy. "Memphis plays the same way," he said, comparing the Pacers and the Grizzlies. We think that the way we play is good enough. We don't want to adjust to other teams. So each team planned to impose its style on the other. But as has been the case all season, except for the loss to Memphis, it was the Knicks who ended up making the other team pay. Each coach's determination to exploit his team's presumed advantage was evident from the tip-off. Indiana opened the game by trying to feed the burly West inside against Anthony, while the Knicks isolated Anthony against Paul George. This dynamic favored the Knicks all game. Anthony did enough defensively to mostly deny West in the post, but he bullied George on the other end, finishing with 26 points. After feeding Anthony, the Knicks went straight to work on Hibbert by engaging him in a number of pick-and-rolls in the middle of the court. This is where Chandler makes his impact on offense, often forcing opposing teams to choose between a dunk and an open 3-pointer. "When you got to guard the 3-point line and with the way he rolls with force to the rim, it puts a lot of pressure on you," Indiana Coach Frank Vogel said of Chandler. Novak acknowledged how much he benefits from the threat Chandler poses. "We depend so much on having somebody drawing attention in the middle and hoping that our guy goes in to tag and opens us up for one second," he said. Chandler's presence also makes opponents reluctant to help on drives, as when Jason Kidd was able to drive unguarded to the rim because Tyler Hansbrough, who was staring at Kidd the whole way, did not want to abandon Chandler. Hibbert was ineffective on offense and made only 3 of 10 shots. Chandler routinely muscled Hibbert out of the lane and out of range for his hook shot. The Pacers could never figure out how to consistently exploit his advantage in strength against Anthony. Indeed, the whole Pacers offense was a mess, in part because they did not create the space for drives the way the Knicks did with their one-big-man, four-shooters alignment. On Sunday, the Knicks won the battle of styles. "Right now we think what we're doing is the right way for our team and we can win that way," Novak said. Who would argue otherwise? Despite a supposed disadvantage in strength inside, Anthony and Chandler combined for 18 shots within a few feet of the rim, compared with nine for West and Hibbert. The Knicks once again proved they know how to use two of their most important players effectively. And as Vogel said, that makes them "challenging to guard; very, very challenging to guard."