On May 15, Beijing time, the semifinals of the NBA playoffs continued to play. The New York Knicks are back at home to face the Indiana Pacers.
Previously, Anunoby was absent, and the Pacers seized the opportunity at home to win two games in a row to rewrite the big score to 2-2. In this battle, Anunoby continues to be absent, what changes will Thibodeau make to deal with the G5 Tianwang Mountain dispute?
In the first quarter of the game, Hart and Brunson each scored 10 points in a single quarter to lead the Knicks to a 38-32 lead over the Pacers.
In the second quarter, Brunson continued to dominate the game, and he threw shots, layups, and three-pointers to score 18 points in a single quarter. The Knicks led 69-54 in the first half thanks to Brunson's explosive output.
DiVincenzo hit a layup early in the quarter and was capped by Jackson, and at the end of the quarter, DiVincenzo returned the favor with his own way, facing Siakam inside with a volleyball cap. The small guard facing the big forward's Answer Ball instantly ignited the crowd at Madison Garden.
Back in the third quarter, inside titan Turner hit three consecutive three-pointers to blow the horn of the Pacers' counterattack. But Hart, Brunson, and McBride blossomed more and extinguished the flames that their opponents had ignited.
In the end, the Knicks widened the score all the way, fixed the final score at 121:91, and took the lead to get the match point with a crushing victory 3-2.
For the Pacers, Siakam had 22 points and 8 boards, Turner had 16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks, Haliburton had 13 points, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks, and Nembhard had 11 points.
For the Knicks, Brunson slashed 44 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists, Hart 18 points and 11 boards, Burks 18 points and 5 boards, McBride 17 points, and Hartenstein 7 points, 17 boards and 5 assists.
The Knicks' first reason for winning the game was that Brunson was hot, scoring like a bag and penetrating the Pacers' defense on his own. So, stop asking me who the number one point guard is, you ask Haliburton yourself, does he dare to face Brunson?
The second reason the Knicks won was rebounding. They led the Pacers 53-29 in full-court rebounds. Although New York does not have Randle and Robinson, Hart and Harten have stolen each other's interior lines, and the brave wins when they meet in a narrow way.
Objectively speaking, with the Pacers' first two games, I didn't expect the Knicks to win the battle of Kings Mountain so smoothly. On the contrary, without Anunoby, many media outlets predicted that the Pacers could hack the Knicks.
However, this is the playoffs, and this is the stage for superstars. The Pacers don't have a single player of the caliber that can compete with Brunson. If they end up losing the series, it's undoubtedly a loss to a superstar. The Knicks are all open, and you still can't win, so who can blame you?