On May 13, Beijing time, the semifinals of the NBA playoffs continued to play. The Indiana Pacers host the New York Knicks.
Previously, the Pacers took advantage of Anunoby's injury and narrowly defeated New York with Haliburton's second consecutive 30+ burst to tie the score at 1-2. With OG still at home today, can the Pacers take their chance to make the next trip?
However, the competition was not as expected. It only took one session for the walker to tell us the answer. They started with Nembhard's first point, and the whole team blossomed at multiple points, beating the Knicks 34-14 in the first quarter.
A 20-point lead wasn't shaky, so the Pacers continued to add weight in the second quarter. The scariest thing is not who scores high, but everyone who is scoring, leaving New York without a defensive center of gravity. After some bombardment, the Pacers ended the first half with a 69-41 run.
In the second half, the Pacers still did not dare to slack off with a nearly 30-point advantage, and they continued to rub salt in New York's wounds in the third quarter, extending the score to 101-63 quarters.
The final quarter logically became garbage time, with both sides switching to bench drills. In the end, the Pacers defeated the Knicks 121-89, rewriting the score to 2-2 and defending their two home courts in a row.
The Knicks Burks had 20 points and five boards, Brunson had 18 points, five assists and two steals, and McBride had 16 points and five boards. Hart had only 2 points and 3 boards, and DiVincenzo had only 7 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
Pacers Haliburton 20 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, McConnell 15 points, 10 assists and 2 steals, Siakam 14 points and 4 boards, Toppin 14 points, Turner 13 points and 5 boards, Jackson 10 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals, Nesmith 8 points and 12 boards.
The Pacers played a nine-man rotation in this game, and a total of 13 players appeared in garbage time. Their team-high score was just 20 points, but they played an offensive that New York couldn't parry.
It has to be mentioned that the Pacers' home court really has magic. In the first round against the Bucks, the Pacers scored 121, 126, and 120 points at three home courts. In the second round against the Knicks, the Pacers scored 111 and 121 points respectively at their two home courts. The bottom line is that no matter who they're facing, the Pacers at home haven't lost yet.
The Pacers led 52-43 in rebounds, 31-18 in assists, and 7-2 in blocks. Of course, none of this is as impressive as their shooting percentage, with the Pacers shooting 56.8 percent from the field and 45.2 percent from three-point range.
Where did the Knicks lose? Anunoby's absence was certainly a big factor, but I prefer to call it the fuse. While Brunson is no longer magical, with Hart and DiVincenzo playing their worst games of the playoffs, the blame for the loss really lies not with them, but with the coach.
Thibodeau's conservative use of personnel has led to the Knicks using a seven-man rotation throughout the playoffs, and the playing time and usage rate of the main players are too high. And with the injuries of Robinson and OG, their original strongest seven-man rotation has become a five-man rotation.
Thibodeau had to increase Burks' playing time and pulled out Himms, Milton, and Jeffries from the bench. These guys haven't experienced the intensity of the playoffs before, and it's not going to work well if they suddenly come up and play. But New York can't help it, who let them not expand the depth of rotation before.
Hart is the most representative of the players, playing 48 minutes at both home games in this round, and has played an average of 46.4 minutes in the playoffs, ranking first in the league.
G2 Hart gave a post-match interview and was asked what would happen to Anunoby after his injury. Hart humorously and helplessly replied "Nothing has changed, I play for 48 minutes".
The peak Rockets used the seven-man rotation to fight with the Warriors, never expanding the rotation, and finally got tired and inaccurate shooting in G7. The Knicks are now repeating the same mistakes, and the more games they play, the more they will be affected by their physical abilities.
Therefore, some netizens ridiculed that today will enter garbage time in the third quarter, and Hart can finally stop playing for 48 minutes.