On May 15, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs continued, and today the Knicks sat at home to welcome the challenge of the Pacers, and the two sides played 2-2 before this game. The core of the Knicks also played a good performance in this game, while the core of the Pacers played disappointingly, and finally the Knicks had the last laugh, let's talk about the game process first, and then talk about the players' play.
Contest Recap:
At the beginning of the first quarter, Sika and Nesmith combined for 4 points to help the Pacers take the lead, Brunson and McBride combined for 5 points in response, and then the Pacers relied on more points to blossom and they once led by 8 points, but the Knicks relied on the play of McBride and Burks at the end of the quarter, and they overtook by 6 points to end the first quarter. The second quarter became Brunson's show time, and he scored 18 points in a single quarter, and under his leadership, the Knicks also extended their lead to 15 points to end the first half.
Turner hit three consecutive three-pointers to help the team trail to just seven points, but Brunson and Hart hit another offensive climax, and they extended their lead to more than 25 points at one point, and the Pacers trailed by 21 points at the end of the third quarter. After all, it was the battle of Tianwang Mountain, and the Pacers didn't want to give up early, Sika led the team to chase down to only 7 points, and the result was Brunson, who scored consecutive points to help the team regain the lead to 20 points, and the game was also lost suspense, and finally the Knicks defeated the Pacers 121-91.
The Pacers had only 3 doubles
After chatting about the game, let's talk about the performance of the players, Haliburton has withered again, he has played well in the past three games, I thought he had adapted to the defense of the playoffs, but this game was disappointing again, 5 of 9 shots in the game, 1 of 4 three-pointers got 13 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
Sika has been honest in the past period of time and he has not played as well as he should have been, in fact, his breakthrough killing, the Knicks can't limit it at all, especially after Anunoby's injury, but he doesn't play so aggressively many times in the fourth quarter, he is like this because this is Haliburton's team, he is only the second in charge, to be honest, it is time for Sika to stand up, otherwise the Pacers will only face elimination.
In this game, Sika shot 7-of-15 from the field, 2-of-3 from three-point range and scored 22 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists, and scored 8 points on 3-of-4 shooting in the final quarter. The Pacers have a total of 4 double-doubles in this game, which is not the level they should have, you must know that the team has averaged a total of 7 double-doubles per game so far in the playoffs, Nembhard got 11 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists, Turner did his best, and scored 16 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists in the whole game.
They will return to the home court to face the Knicks in the next game, and the Pacers have not lost at home so far in the playoffs, but judging from today's hard work, the Knicks are likely to be able to advance to the second round, after all, they won Tianwang Mountain, which is equivalent to one more chance.
Brunson was on fire
In this game, the Knicks explained to everyone the real hot basketball, they are too similar to the Knicks in the Ewing period, even if the thickness of the team's lineup is obviously inferior to the opponent, they will do everything to win, and the Knicks won in two aspects: full active scramble and Brunson. In terms of rebounding, the Knicks were 53-29 with the Pacers, who outscored the Pacers by 24 rebounds and 20-5 in the frontcourt.
Hart and Harden dominated the rebounding in this game, Harden scored 7 points, 17 rebounds and 5 assists, and Hart got 18 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists. Burks also played very well off the bench in this game, scoring 18 points and 5 rebounds in the game, and after McBride entered the start, he shot 7 of 15 in this game, scored 17 points and 4 assists, which was very efficient.
Brunson played at the level of a top star, 18 of 35 shots, 2 of 6 three-pointers, 44 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists, it is worth mentioning that this is the fifth time he has scored 40+ in a single game in the playoffs so far, and James, Jordan and Jerry West have been cut more than him in the playoffs in a single season so far, so powerful, you must know that Brunson is just a 18-year-old second-round No. 3 show, and now he has become a supergiant.
The Knicks are now only one step away from the Eastern Conference finals, and Brunson's ability to lead the team to the current height despite injuries to the core of the team is commendable, knowing that Randle, Anunoby, Bojan and Mitchell Robinson are all out due to injury. The Knicks have exceeded expectations this season, and Brunson has received the recognition he deserves. Speaking of which, what do you have to say about the current Knicks and Brunson? Welcome to leave a message to discuss.