In the second round of G3, the Pacers defeated the Knicks 111-106 and chased the score to 1-2.
In the first two games of this series, the two teams played very closely, and this game is still the same, the Pacers who returned to their home court twice stretched the difference to double digits, but were caught up by the Knicks both times, and were overtaken from the end of the third quarter to the beginning of the fourth quarter.
In the second half of the fourth quarter, both sides had a bad hand, tied several times, and before the last minute, the Knicks trailed by 3 points at 103-106, and then Brunson made a three-pointer to tie the game;
However, the Knicks' joy didn't last long, and in the next round, Nembhard responded with a three-pointer from beyond the buzzer to complete the quasi-final shot.
This stunner is also quite interesting, Haliburton was cornered, and Nembhard was somewhat suspected of throwing the pot at the point, but Nembhard, who had previously shot 1-of-7, was stunned to shoot the farthest of his career - and probably the most important three points.
For the Pacers, this win was crucial, directly avoiding a 3-0 deficit.
Although Haliburton threw off the pot in the end, his full-court performance was definitely worthy of recognition, shooting 14 of 26, 6 of 16 three-pointers, scoring 35 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals, of which in the first half, Harry scored 23 points.
G1's Harry had a serious slump, shooting 6 points from 6 points in a single game, but since G2, his form has continued to recover, and G2 also got 34 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 steals in the last game.
In addition, several other cores of the Pacers:
- Siakam, 9-of-14 shooting, 7-of-9 free throws, 26 points and 7 rebounds, 9 points in the fourth quarter
- Myles Turner, shot 7-of-13 from the field and 2-of-5 from three-point range, finishing with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks
-- Nesmith, shot 3-of-6 from the field and 2-of-3 from three-point range, finishing with 10 points and six rebounds
- Nembhard, shot 2-of-8 from the field and 1-of-3 from three-point range, finishing with five points, five rebounds and six assists
In the previous two games, the Pacers' starting plus/minus was all negative, and all of them were positive in this game, and 4 players exceeded +15, and the highest Turner reached +24, which can also see some differences.
Let's talk about the Knicks, they are out of ammunition.
Jalen Brunson hit a tie-breaking three-pointer, but objectively speaking, he didn't have a particularly good game, shooting 10-of-26 from the field and 2-of-6 from three-point range, finishing with 26 points and six assists, and also had five turnovers.
In the final moments, after Nembhard hit a quasi-shot, the Knicks still had hope of tying, but Brunson missed the three-point attempt to make a foul.
This ball, Brunson was indeed beaten when he shot, but the intention to make a foul was too obvious, and this was still on the home court of the Pacers, so it was not surprising that it was not blown.
DiVincenzo played his best playoff game, playing 44 minutes, shooting 12-of-26 from the field, 7-of-11 from three-point range and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line to finish with 35 points, three rebounds and two assists, a career-high scoring career.
In the past four games, DiVincenzo scored 23 points, 25 points, 28 points, and 35 points, noting that his annual salary this season is only 11 million, and the average salary in the next three years is only 12 million, and the Knicks are making a lot again.
Interestingly, Hart, at the end of G2, Thibodeau had said that he needed Hart to play 48 minutes, and there was a statistic at the time that Hart had not rested for 10 quarters, and he averaged 46.5 minutes per game in the past 8 games.
In this game, everyone was ready for Hart to play 48 minutes, but Thibodeau let Hart rest for 5 minutes in the third quarter, which was the first break in the Hart series, which even foreign media couldn't help but say: "An extremely rare spectacle, Hart actually went off the court to rest." ”
Although the playing time was reduced, Hart's performance was still not bad, he played 43 minutes, shot 4 of 7, got 10 points, 18 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals, and grabbed nearly half of the team's rebounds by himself, and finally sent a key layup, but unfortunately the referee did not blow the interference ball.
So far in the playoffs, Hart has averaged 46.4 minutes per game, still the first in the league, and has been able to score 17.1 points, 13.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists, shooting 47.7% from the field and 45.2% from three-point range.
The Knicks did not have Anunoby in this game, and Thibodeau used Burks, who had played a total of 44 seconds in the previous playoffs, and the latter also lived up to expectations, shooting 4-of-6 and scoring 14 points, and he should be seen playing more in the future.
As for this series, although the Knicks are still the leading side, it will be difficult to advance, and they have shot 51.9% of the three-pointers (14 of 27) in this game, and still can't win.
Injuries are the biggest problem for the Knicks, Randle, Mitchell Robinson, and Bojan are reimbursed, and now OG has a hamstring strain, and Brunson, DiVincenzo, Hart, and Harden's physical strength will be greatly tested.
Going back to Hart, there was an interesting interview with Hart before the game, when he was asked about playing 48 minutes straight.
"I'm just playing, a lot of people get up at 6 a.m. and work 12 hours straight, they're tired, and for us we just need to play one game, so we have to take that seriously," Hart said. "-Workers, it's heart-piercing.
One of the three giants of Villanova is playing a supergiant performance, and the contract is worth a lot; A team that plays like an All-Star in a row, and the contract is also worth a lot; There is also a tireless, full field, oh yes, the annual salary of 13 million, which is also a great value.
Regardless of the final result, the Knicks' performance in this year's playoffs is worthy of respect, this kind of bloody basketball, every game is regarded as a tie-break to fight hard, but anyone who watches one or two games, it is difficult not to like it.