The Eastern Conference semifinals begin
In the blink of an eye, the NBA playoffs came to the division semifinals, the Pacers defeated the Bucks on the next gram and will challenge the New York Knicks, who are second in the East, the two teams can be described as completely different styles, the Pacers emphasize offense, the team's offensive efficiency is second in the league, the league in three-point shooting is first, and the three-point shooting is second in the league, second only to the Boston Celtics. Haliburton has the magic and the team's leading scorer is Siakam, with as many as six players averaging double-doubles per game and many points off the bench.
The Knicks are a completely different team, relying on a tenacious defense, and Thibodeau's coaching philosophy is well known. The team's offense basically relies on Brunson, who ranks first in the league with 35.5 points per game in the playoffs, and third in the league with an average of 43.7 minutes per game, the first being Hart's 46.4 minutes per game, which is so extreme.
Last-minute wins
At the beginning of the first quarter of the game, the Knicks were dominated by the anti-away, Brunson got 10 points and 2 rebounds on 3-of-6 shooting, Hart also had 9 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block on 4-of-4 shooting, directly filling the data column, the team scored 27 points in a single quarter, while the Pacers only scored 24 points, including only 10 points for the starters, 14 points on the bench, and 6 points and 1 assist for McConaughey on 3-of-4 shooting. After returning from the second quarter, Brunson scored 8 points and 2 assists, Anunoby had 5 points and 2 rebounds, and Hartenstein hit a half-court buzzer-beating three-pointer, but the team only scored 22 points in a single quarter.
The Pacers seized the opportunity, Turner had 9 points and 1 rebound on 4-of-6 shooting, Siakam also had 6 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist, Haliburton had 3 points, 1 rebound and 4 assists, and the team scored 31 points in a single quarter. At halftime, the Pacers outscored the Knicks by six points, 55-49. In the second half, DiVincenzo ushered in an outbreak, scoring 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, Harden and Hart each scored 6 points, and the team scored 33 points in a single quarter, but the Pacers withstood the pressure, Turner scored 13 points and 2 assists on 4-of-8 shooting, and McConaughey also had 6 points and 2 steals on 3-of-3 shooting, and the team scored 32 points in a single quarter and continued to maintain a 5-point lead.
In the final quarter of the game, the Knicks kept catching up, and DiVincenzo hit a three-pointer to narrow the gap to one point. The Pacers stabilized the situation, Hart wondered 2+2, but then missed the tie with one of two free throws, but fortunately, Brunson scored five points in a row to help the Knicks equalize. Anunoby made a steal and dunked, Brunson also made a mid-range shot, the Knicks led by 4 points, and the Pacers scored 6 points in a row to overtake again. Brunson turned over and continued to hit a jumper, DiVincenzo hit a three-point shot through the heart, Siakam continued to make a layup, Brunson made a key mistake, Turner was blown to move to cover, the Pacers challenge failed, and the game was over. In the end, the Knicks narrowly defeated the Pacers 121-117 and led the series 1-0.
Knicks 1-0 Pacers
It was an exciting game with some last-minute steals from the referees, but there is no denying how exciting the game was. Brunson continued to show the strength of his star team, scoring 43 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists on 14-of-26 shooting, and scoring 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the final quarter. DiVincenzo shot 10-of-17 from the field and 5-of-9 from three-point range for 25 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist, and scored 21 points in the second half. Hart also had 24 points, 13 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 1 block on 9-of-13 shooting, and it was another game that played 48 minutes.
In addition, Anunoby also had 13 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists, Hartenstein had 13 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, the starting five Tigers all scored double-doubles, and the bench only scored 3 points combined. The Pacers had as many as six players score in double figures, and the bench scored 46 points, but to no avail. Turner shot 8-of-16 with 23 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists, Siakam shot 8-of-16 with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, and McConaughey shot 9-of-16 with 18 points, 1 rebound and 3 assists, but the team's boss Haliburton, with only 6 points, 2 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals on 2-of-6 shooting, was unsatisfactory.