Pacers vs Knicks
The Pacers traveled to the road to face the Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. In this game, McBride replaced Burks as the starting team in New York, and partnered with Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, DiVincenzo and Hartenstein. The Pacers' starting lineup remains unchanged, and the pinnacle matchup between Haliburton and Brunson, the two backcourt stars, is still the biggest attraction of this series.
Brunson bombarded 44+7, and the Knicks won the battle of King Mountain! The double tigers will make meritorious contributions, Siakam 22+8!
Full game review
At the beginning of the first quarter, Nesmith, Siakam and Nembhard hit the basket to score points, Brunson scored 4 points with free throws, Haliburton, Turner and McBride, Hart shot long, Hartenstein and Nembhard bombarded in the restricted area, the Pacers sent big hats 3 times in a row, Brunson, Hart and Hartenstein scored points under the impact basket, and the Pacers fired inside and outside to color.
Brunson makes a strong basket
McBride and Hart led an 11-0 offensive spree, and the Pacers hit back-to-back free throws to stop the bleeding. Siakam and Burks hit long-range shots to put the Pacers up 32-38 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Brunson hit consecutive singles, Hartenstein and Achiuwa played at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends of the restricted area, and the Knicks continued to build a rebounding advantage. Brunson was unstoppable on the offensive end, and continued to score points with free throws, Turner and Siakam led the team to score in the middle and long range, and the Knicks' offensive momentum declined, and Siakam and Nembhard led the team to continue to chase points.
Brunson defends Haliburton
However, Brunson, McBride, Achiuwa, and Hart led the team to a sudden 9-0 offensive run, and the Knicks extended the difference to 18 points. Toppin and Nembhard chased the points, and at halftime, the Knicks led 69-54.
In the first half, Brunson had 28 points and 4 assists, McBride 12 points, Hartenstein 4 points and 7 frontcourt boards, DiVincenzo 4 points and 4 rebounds, and Hart 12 points and 8 rebounds. Haliburton had seven points and four assists, Siakam had 13 points, Turner had seven points, Nembhard had eight points, Nesmith had five points and Toppin had seven points.
Jalen Brunson
In the rematch, Hartenstein hit 1 of 2 free throws, Turner responded with 3 long shots, and the Pacers went on a 9-1 run that sent Thibodeau to call a timeout. DiVincenzo scored on a throw, Nembhard hit 1 of 2 free throws, Turner blocked Hart, Hartenstein scored in the penalty area, McBride and Brunson attacked from the outside, and Carlisle asked for a timeout. Toppin didn't score from the outside, Brunson scored on the board, McBride scored in the low post, and DiVincenzo made up for the dunk.
Turner's long shot
DiVincenzo clashed with Turner, and both sides each received technical fouls. Burks hit 1 of 2 free throws and Hart scored in the restricted area, and the Knicks responded with a 20-1 offensive spree to take a 25-point lead. Shepard scored from the outside to break the scoring drought for the Pacers. Brunson scored on a throw, Haliburton scored on a layup, and Haliburton made a steal and dunked. Burks and Nesmith exchanged long-range shots, and Hart scrambled for a rebound and scored points under the basket. Achiuwa hit 1 of 2 free throws and finished the third quarter with the Knicks leading 96-75, the Pacers trailing 21-27 in the first quarter and Turner scoring nine points in the first quarter.
In the final quarter, Siakam and McConnell hit 2+1 one after another, Siakam scored a three-pointer, and the Pacers played a 9-0 offensive run. Burks scored from the outside, Siakam and Brunson battled in the low post, Hartenstein and Brunson scored five more points under the basket, and the Pacers made a series of turnovers, fouls and long-range shots, and Thibodeau called a timeout. Burks scored from the outside, and the Knicks responded with a 13-2 run to extend the margin to 23 points. Haliburton scored for a layup, and Burks made another long shot.
Brunson, Hart, and Burks communicate with their teammates
Carlisle used the last timeout, McConnell made a layup, and Brunson and Hartenstein hit two free throws in quick succession. The Knicks led by 26 points and substituted for the starters, and with less than three minutes to go, the game was in suspense as players at the end of the bench from both teams practiced on the court. In the end, the Knicks defeated the Pacers 121-91.
The Knicks won the battle of Kings Mountain and captured the match point, and the G6 matchup between the two sides will be played on the Pacers' home court.
Haliburton had 13 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks on 5-of-9 shooting, Nembhard had 11 points and 4 assists, Turner had 16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks and 4 turnovers, Nesmith had 8 points, Simms had 6 points, Toppin had 7 points, and McConnell had 7 points and 5 assists.
The Knicks defeated the Pacers in the battle of Kings Mountain
McBride had 17 points and 4 assists, DiVincenzo had 8 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, and Burks had 18 points and 5 rebounds + a game-high 5 three-pointers from the bench.
Brunson H 44+7
Knicks superstar Jalen Brunson went on a strong rampage in this game. Brunson played 43 minutes, shooting 18-of-35, 2-of-6 from three-point range, and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line, with 44 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists, with a plus/minus of +31. Brunson shot a game-high 51 percent from the field and was a godsend on the offensive end.
Jalen Brunson
Brunson, who scored 28 points in the first half (18 in the second quarter), led the team to an early offensive end. In the second half, Brunson continued his hot hand and scored another 16 points. Brunson scored nine points in the final quarter to extend the margin to 26 points and seal the win. At the same time, Brunson was also the assist king of this game, and he led the team to achieve multiple points of flowering and all the soldiers.
Brunson also set 2 records in this campaign, first, according to statistics, Brunson has scored 40+ 5 times in this playoff (3 times in the first round and 2 times in the second round), the first player since James in 2018 to achieve 40+ 5 times in a single playoff game. 2. So far in this playoffs, Brunson has 20+ in the half 7 times, and he is the player in the league with the most 20+ half-time playoff games this season.
The twin tigers will make meritorious contributions
The Knicks' twin players Josh Hart and Hartenstein made a big contribution because of the team's victory. New York's starting power forward Hart played 39 minutes, shooting 7-of-16, 2-of-7 from three-point range and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line, with a double-double of 18 points, 11 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. Hart was a solid player on the offensive end and had the second-most rebounds in the game. In this campaign, Hart's plus/minus is as high as +21. On both ends of the floor, Hart exploded.
Hart and Hartenstein teamed up to defend Siakam
Knicks starting center Hartenstein played 31 minutes, shooting 2-of-3 from the field and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line, finishing with 7 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 block. Hartenstein, the rebounding leader of the game, also delivered the second-most assists in the game. In terms of rebounding and tandem teams, Hartenstein has been excellent.
Hallstein slammed down
Hart and Hartenstein battled hard to grab rebounds to help the Knicks crush their opponents 53-29 in rebounding statistics. In terms of frontcourt rebounding statistics, New York beat the Pacers 20-5. Relying on the huge advantage of rebounding, the Knicks were able to beat their opponents by 30 points.
Siakam 22+8
Pacers forward Siakam played 33 minutes, shooting 7-of-15, 2-of-3 from three-point range and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line to finish with 22 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal. Siakam shot a team-high with nearly 50 percent shooting, but struggled to stop the opposition's all-in-one men.
Siakam vs. Hartenstein
Siakam, who grabbed the most rebounds on the team, did his best in this game.