The Knicks defeated the Pacers 121-91 to take a 3-2 overall lead with a match point. Anunoby was injured before, and Miro was also reimbursed. The Knicks rotation became inadequate, and Thibodeau began to use Achiuwa and Burks heavily, and increased the time for Hatten and DiVincenzo. From Thibodeau's personal point of view, he will not add more rotations, and 7 players is already the limit. When I got injured, I changed to a new guy to continue the groove, and fortunately, Brunson and Hart were strong enough.
Hart can be called an iron man in the playoffs this time, playing 48 minutes in many games, but his body is really perverted. It doesn't hurt. Brunson is somewhat injured, but there is no way, and now the team can play Brunson. This time in the playoffs, Brunson was really good, averaging 33.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 7.5 assists in 41 minutes per game, shooting 45.1%. It's a bit of a 19-year peak Harden, and Brunson's ability to score points is too strong. In 11 playoff games, Brunson scored 40+ points five times.
The Pacers also tried their best in this game, but they couldn't stop Brunson. The Pacers started the game with a strong offense, and after holding two home courts, morale was high, and the two sides came up to a 9-9 draw. Brunson and Hart are on fire, the Pacers also have Siakam and Turner in color, and Haliburton is out of form today. In the first quarter, the Knicks led by 6 points at 38-32, and in the second quarter, Brunson played directly without continuing to rest, and scored 6 points in a row, and the Knicks stretched the difference to 10 points. Although Siakam and Nembhard hit two 3-pointers in a row to stop the bleeding, Brunson couldn't stop and scored eight points in a row. The Knicks led by 15 points at 69-54 at halftime.
In the second half, Turner continued his touch and became a strong scoring point for the Pacers, hitting three three-pointers from the outside, and the Pacers continued to eat away at the point difference. It was Brunson who stepped up again, and the Knicks quickly responded with a 19-1 run, and the margin was stretched to 19 points instead. Brunson continued to explode in the final quarter, and Burks suddenly found a three-point touch, and also hit 3 three-pointers in response to Turner, and the Knicks led by 24 points in a wave to kill the suspense. At full time, the Pacers scored 22 points for Sika, Turner 16 points, Haliburton 13 points, and Nembhard 11 points.
On the Knicks' side, Brunson scored 44 points and 7 assists, Hart performed 18 points and 11 boards again, and this time the playoffs were superb, playing like a 30 million annual salary, Burks became a bench wonder and scored 18 points, Harden on the inside had 7 points and 17 boards, and McBride had 17 points. Brunson, who was born in 1996, turned 28 in August this year and is at the peak of his career. The Knicks made a lot of money, and in 22 Brunson led the Western Conference Finals with the Mavericks and Doncic. Brunson even outperformed Doncic that year, because he still led the team to a great performance despite Doncic's injury.
Especially in the second round against the Suns, Brunson was simply a god, and he broke the Suns defense line one-on-one. But the Mavericks were limited in strength after all, and were eventually defeated by the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. The Mavericks didn't keep Brunson in the offseason, who went straight to the Knicks for four years and $100 million. At that time, not only did the Mavericks think that Brunson was not worth 100 million, but the outside world also thought that the Knicks were wronged, but everyone was slapped in the face by Brunson, and he has become a superstar.
With Brunson's performance now in the trade market, there is nothing wrong with trading four first-round picks and four first-round swap rights for the Knicks. He has proven his worth in the two years with the Knicks, whether it is the stability of leading the team in the playoffs or the performance he has played in the playoffs, which makes the Knicks' contract seem bloody. Ironically, Brunson twice asked the Mavericks for a four-year, $55 million contract extension, but the Mavericks turned Brunson down both times, and the Mavericks lost money. To be honest, Brunson is now taking 200 million in 4 years, he can be the boss of a team, and then be tough, stable, and good at playing tough battles.