Pacers Run Past Knicks to Advance to the NBA Finals
In a series during which the Indiana Pacers tried to play fast while the New York Knicks tried to slow the game down, Indiana ran past New York 125-108 to claim a 4-2 victory and earn a trip to the NBA Finals to face the Oklahoma City Thunder. After New York's rousing game five win, it may have been tempting to assume that the momentum in the series had shifted--but even though in game momentum exists, game to game momentum is difficult to generate: the next game starts 0-0 with different referees in front of a different crowd under different conditions in terms of injuries, foul trouble, and other factors. Thus, in my recap of New York's game five win, I concluded, "The Knicks won game five because they played harder than the Pacers.
The team that plays harder will win game six, and it will likely be
evident by the end of the first quarter which team will win." The Pacers won game six by playing harder, but the first half was tightly contested, with neither team leading by more than six points; the Pacers led just 58-54 at halftime before using relentless defensive pressure and blistering 7-13 (.538) three point shooting to break the game open in the third quarter: the Pacers went on a 9-0 run in the first 1:58 of the third quarter and led by double digits for most of the second half. Pascal Siakam (10 points) and Thomas Bryant (eight points) led Indiana's third quarter charge.
Siakam scored a game-high 31 points on 10-18 field goal shooting. Tyrese Haliburton bounced back from a subpar game five with 21 points on 9-17 field goal shooting along with a game-high 13 assists, six rebounds, and three steals; he had four turnovers after not committing a turnover in games four and five, but a four turnover game punctuated by aggressiveness and decisiveness is better than a passive zero turnover game such as his desultory game five: productivity and activity often matter more than so-called "efficiency." Obi Toppin contributed 18 points and six rebounds in 25 minutes off of the bench. Andrew Nembhard had 14 points, eight rebounds, and a game-high six steals as he spearheaded a great team defensive effort that produced 34 points off of turnovers. Bryant finished with 11 points in just 13 minutes.
OG Anunoby led the Knicks with 24 points. Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, but he shot just 8-19 from the field. Mikal Bridges scored 15 points but had a game-high tying five turnovers. Jalen Brunson was the leading scorer in the series (30.7 ppg), but in game six he had a series-low 19 points on 8-18 field goal shooting while committing a game-high tying five turnovers; the Pacers' pressure defense wore him down in this game specifically, and in the series in general after he scored 43 points on 15-25 field goal shooting in New York's deflating game one loss; even though the Knicks won two games in this series, it is fair to say that they never recovered from blowing a 14 point lead in the final 2:45 of the fourth quarter of game one before losing in overtime;
these teams proved to be evenly matched--separated by just 11 points
over six games--and thus giving away game one was a fatal blow.
Tyrese Haliburton is the engine for the Pacers' attack, but--to mix metaphors--Pascal Siakam is the barometer: the Pacers won each of the three games in this series when Siakam scored at least 30 points--including his playoff career-high 39 point outburst in game two--and they went 1-2 in the three games when he scored 17 points or less. In the Eastern Conference Finals, Siakam averaged a team-high 24.8 ppg
with shooting splits of .524/.500/.674 while ranking second on the team
in rebounding (5.0 rpg), tied for second in assists (3.5 apg), third in
steals (1.3 spg), and third in three point field goals made (10) as the
Pacers made more three pointers than the Knicks (73-62) with a better
three point shooting percentage (.390-.332). Siakam received the Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals MVP; previous award winners include Jayson Tatum (2022), Jimmy Butler (2023), and Jaylen Brown (2024).
When the Pacers started the season 10-15, it is doubtful that anyone outside of their locker room envisioned not only a return trip to the Eastern Conference Finals but reaching the NBA Finals for the first time in 25 years and just the second time in franchise history (the Pacers won three ABA titles--1970, 1972-73--and played in the ABA Finals five times). Coach Rick Carlisle, who led the underdog Dallas Mavericks to the 2011 NBA title, did a masterful job of not only getting the Pacers back on track in the regular season but also navigating through upsets of two favored teams (the number one seeded Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks) in the playoffs. Carlisle will be making his second NBA Finals appearance as a coach after guiding teams to the Eastern Conference Finals four times (Detroit in 2003; Indiana in 2004, 2024-25) and to the Western Conference Finals one time (Dallas in 2011). The Pacers face a daunting challenge against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but that will be the subject of another article.
This game marked the end of an era in not just sports history but television history: the final episode of TNT's "Inside the NBA" aired. Although the famous studio crew of Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O'Neal will still be together in some format next season on ABC/ESPN, there is a strong sense that things will not be quite the same as they were when TNT did pregame shows, game telecasts, and postgame shows. ABC/ESPN has not done a great job with its NBA coverage--to put it mildly--and there are justifiable fears that they will figure out some way to mess up a quartet that they tried unsuccessfully to match for a long time. The TNT foursome found the right mixture of humor combined with insightful analysis, and they made it look a lot easier than it is (as ABC/ESPN has proven, in a negative way). In "Going Inside," the behind the scenes show about TNT's last season covering the NBA, Johnson noted that in this life filled with uncertainties there are only three things that we can control:
1) Our attitude
2) How hard we work
3) How we treat people
Those words of wisdom provide a glimpse into how special Johnson is as a person, not just as a broadcaster.
The NBA on TNT will be missed, and it will never be forgotten by NBA fans.
Labels: Andrew Nembhard, Indiana Pacers, Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks, Pascal Siakam, Tyrese Haliburton
posted by David Friedman @ 11:50 AM
Celtics Rally From 18 Point Deficit to Put Pacers in 3-0 Hole
Jrue Holiday--who was so sick earlier in the day that he missed shootaround--scored Boston's last five points in the final 38.9 seconds as the Celtics recovered from an 18 point deficit to beat the Indiana Pacers 114-111 and take a 3-0 Eastern Conference Finals lead. Holiday finished with 14 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals, but Boston's biggest star overall was Jayson Tatum, who had a game-high 36 points, a game-high 10 rebounds, and a team-high eight assists. Jaylen Brown had another strong performance (24 points on 10-18 field goal shooting), and soon to be 38 year old Al Horford had his second flashback performance in the past four games with 23 points, five rebounds, and three blocked shots. Horford shot 8-14 from the field, including 7-12 from three point range. Derrick White added 13 points, seven assists, five rebounds, and three steals as all five Boston starters scored at least 13 points. Boston's bench is depleted with Horford taking the starting spot of the injured Kristaps Porzingis, but Boston still has the league's best starting five.
Andrew Nembhard led the Pacers in scoring (32 points) and assists (nine). T.J. McConnell had an excellent game off of the bench (23 points, nine rebounds, six assists and just one turnover in 29 minutes). Myles Turner added 22 points while tying Tatum for game-high rebounding honors with 10. Pascal Siakam scored 22 points and dished for six assists. That quartet played very well, but the other Pacers combined to score just 12 points on 6-19 (.316) field goal shooting. The Pacers' ball movement, player movement, shooting, and passing were impeccable for the first two and a half quarters, but they did not maintain that high level execution in the game's final 18 minutes.
When Indiana's All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton was sidelined with a hamstring injury during Boston's 126-110 game two win, it looked as if Boston would have an easy path to two more victories to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals--and Boston seemed to confirm that view by storming to a 24-15 first quarter lead, but then Indiana outscored Boston 49-22 to take a 64-46 second quarter lead. The Pacers led 69-57 at halftime, shooting .636 from the field in a performance reminiscent of their sizzling shooting in their game seven win versus the New York Knicks.
It is easy to criticize the Celtics for taking things for granted and losing focus, but the Pacers should also get credit; they have several very talented players other than Haliburton, and those players played very well, but they just could not quite sustain that level for the entire game, particularly after the Celtics' defensive energy and intensity went up a notch down the stretch in the third quarter. The Pacers led 84-66 at the 6:04 mark of the third quarter, but the Celtics cut that lead in half and entered the fourth quarter trailing 90-81.
The Pacers never regained a double digit lead, and the Celtics chipped away during the final stanza, culminating in Holiday's two game-winning plays; his driving basket/three point play gave the Celtics their first lead (112-111) since the opening moments of the second quarter. After the teams exchanged misses, Holiday stole the ball from Nembhard and made two free throws to push the Celtics' advantage to 114-111. The Pacers called a timeout after Holiday's second free throw, and they ran an interesting inbounds play with 1.7 second left: four Pacers lined up in the backcourt like NFL wide receivers, and then they ran "crossing patterns" as they sprinted past midcourt, freeing Nesmith to take a corner three pointer; it is difficult to get off a quality shot against a good defensive team when you need a three pointer to tie with less than two seconds left, but the Pacers executed that situation as well as possible. As the saying goes, it is a make or miss league, and Nesmith missed.
Indiana Coach Rick Carlisle vowed after the game that the Pacers will go after the Celtics with even more intensity in game four--but the reality is that no NBA team has ever won a playoff series after trailing 3-0, and it is difficult to see the Pacers making such history under any circumstances, let alone without Haliburton.
Labels: Al Horford, Andrew Nembhard, Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, Myles Turner, T.J. McConnell, Tyrese Haliburton
posted by David Friedman @ 12:23 AM
Pacers Outscrap Scrappy Knicks to Win Game Three, 111-106
"The inches we need are everywhere around us. They're in every break
of the game, every minute, every second. On this team, we fight for that
inch. On this
team, we tear ourselves and everyone else around us to pieces for that
inch. We claw with our fingernails for that inch, because we know when
we
add up all those inches that's gonna make the f------ difference
between winning and losing! Between livin' and dyin'!"--Coach Tony
D'Amato, "Any Given Sunday"
The New York Knicks are not the
biggest or the most talented team in the NBA, but they might be the
scrappiest. In a must win game three at home, the Indiana Pacers
outscrapped the New York Knicks by just enough to win 111-106 and
preserve the opportunity to tie the series at 2-2 with one more home
win. Tyrese Haliburton scored a game-high 35 points while shooting 14-26
from the field (including 6-16 from three point range), and he also
dished for a game-high seven assists. Pascal Siakam added 26 points and
seven rebounds, while Myles Turner contributed 21 points, a team-high 10
rebounds, and three blocked shots.
Donte DiVincenzo picked up
the slack for a hobbled Jalen Brunson--who was questionable before the
game with a right foot injury--by tying Haliburton for game-high honors
with 35 points. Brunson was less efficient than usual, shooting just
10-26 from the field and having five turnovers to go along with his six
assists. He finished with 26 points, and he scored seven points on 2-7
field goal shooting in the fourth quarter as both he and the Knicks
seemed worn down; the Knicks scored just 16 points on 4-19 fourth
quarter shooting.
The Pacers outrebounded the Knicks 42-41,
including 15-10 in the fourth quarter when the Pacers snared five
offensive rebounds. Aaron Nesmith corralled the last of those offensive
rebounds with 30.5 seconds remaining and the score tied at 106. Andrew
Nembhard struggled with his shot (five points on 2-8 field goal
shooting), but he converted that extra possession into what turned out
to be the game-winning three pointer with 17.8 seconds remaining.
Nesmith closed out the scoring with a pair of free throws.
The
injury-depleted Knicks played without Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson,
and OG Anunoby, but after falling behind by 12 points in the first
quarter they surged to a 98-89 lead with 9:46 left in the fourth quarter
before the Pacers saved their season (at least for now) by closing the
game on a 22-8 run.
Watching the Knicks and Pacers scrap, scratch,
and claw for every inch during this highly competitive game, one cannot
avoid thinking about two teams that recently fired their coaches: the
L.A. Lakers (Darvin Ham) and the Phoenix Suns (Frank Vogel). If you
conducted a draft of the players on the rosters of these four teams, it
is doubtful that a Knick or a Pacer would make the top four: Anthony
Davis, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Devin Booker would lock up those
spots, and then Brunson would go fifth--but is it the fault of Ham and
Vogel that their teams combined to win just one playoff game in 2024?
The
Lakers and Suns don't play hard consistently--and, as Coach D'Amato
declared in his famous speech, the coach can't make the players play
hard: the players have to commit to playing hard and fighting for those
inches. Coaches design game plans, but stars set the tone for how hard a
team plays. LeBron James won his four championships by hopping from
team to team and begging other stars to play with him. Kevin Durant won
his two titles by fleeing Oklahoma City to join a team that had just
beaten him and had previously won a championship without him. There is
no doubt that James and Durant are all-time great players, but they did
not achieve that status by playing the way that the Knicks play. Imagine
if the Lakers and Suns played as hard each game this season as the Knicks
do every game and as the Pacers did in this game with their season on
the line. There is no way that the Lakers and Suns would have finished
the way that they did if they had consistently played hard.
The
Knicks are a joy to watch, and even though the Pacers don't bring that
kind of energy every game it is fair to say that they do so more often
than the Lakers and Suns do. The Knicks do not complain, whine, or make
excuses. They just play ball. After the first two games of this series,
the Pacers whined to some extent about some admittedly bad calls, but
they also candidly admitted that they had to play better--and they came
through in game three. In marked contrast, the star players from the
Lakers and Suns threw their coaches under the bus without ever taking
personal responsibility for how much their teams underachieved.
Basketball
purists are thrilled to watch Knicks-Pacers, and relieved that we don't
have to see the Lakers and Suns until next fall.
Labels: Andrew Nembhard, Donte DiVincenzo, Indiana Pacers, Jalen Brunson, Myles Turner, New York Knicks, Pascal Siakam, Tyrese Haliburton
posted by David Friedman @ 11:21 PM
