On May 18, Beijing time, NBA playoffs Eastern Conference semifinals G6: Pacers (2) home vs Knicks (3). If the Pacers lose, they will be eliminated directly, and they will have no way back. Pacers starters: Haliburton, Nesmith, Nembhard, Siakam, Turner. The Pacers lost 24 rebounds in their last game!
On the Knicks' side, Anunoby continues to be sidelined due to a hamstring strain and will not be able to return for this series. Randle, Bojan and Mitchell Robinson have all been reimbursed for the season. Knicks starters: Brunson, Hart, McBride, DiVincenzo, Hartenstein. In the past two games, DiVincenzo has made 1 of 12 three-pointers!
Back to today's game, the Pacers changed their style of play, reduced their outside shots, and almost all of the ball went to the basket. Of the Pacers' first 16 points in the game, 12 came inside. The Knicks' McBride was a surprise player, playing seven minutes in the first quarter and scoring 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Worryingly, Hart grabbed a rebound and was hit in the abdomen.
It was too hard, Hart took a 2-minute break, re-entered the arena and continued to fight for rebounds, grabbing a game-high 4 rebounds in the first quarter. At the end of the first quarter, the Knicks led by one point at 30-29, and the Knicks made 5 of 12 three-pointers for the whole team. DiVincenzo was 2-of-5 from three-point range and scored 10 points in the quarter. The Pacers scored 22 of the 29 points in the first quarter from the inside, which is an exaggerated proportion.
At the beginning of the second quarter, the Pacers still insisted on rushing to the inside, the Knicks' outside shooting percentage dropped, and the Pacers blasted out a wave of 13-2 to lead to double digits. Except for Hatten and Achiuwa, none of the other five members of the Knicks' rotation lineup are taller than 1.98 meters. Anunoby and Randle are injured, and the Knicks' interior defense does have holes.
In this year's playoffs, Brunson scored 40+ five times, becoming the first player to achieve this feat since James in 2018. It's a pity that the big head was limited by Nesmith today, Brunson started with 2 of 2, and then conceded 11 consecutive shots, and only scored 5 points and 2 assists on 2 of 13 shooting in the first half. Nesmith had a game-high plus/minus of +13 at halftime.
At the end of the first half, the Knicks trailed by 10 points at 51-61. Scoring inside, the Pacers beat the Knicks 40-16! Siakam finished with 15 points, six rebounds and two assists on 7-of-15 shooting in the half, Turner had 11 points and three rebounds, and Haliburton finished with eight points, four rebounds and six assists on 3-of-5 shooting. DiVincenzo and McBride each scored 15 points, and Hart had five points, six rebounds and three assists.
In the first half, the Pacers won 4 25-21. At the beginning of the second half, Brunson felt warmer, scoring nine points in five minutes. Haliburton and Siakam stepped up in response, with two punches to four hands, and with five minutes left in the third quarter, the Pacers led by 15 points. Brunson scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the quarter, and his teammates combined for 10 points.
At the end of the third quarter, the Pacers led by 13 points at 88-75, and the Pacers won 11 rebounds at 37-26. In addition, the Pacers dished out 25 assists to the Knicks with just 17. With 8:44 left in the final quarter, Hart returned to the locker room, and the NBA's No. 1 Ironman was injured. In the first three games of the series, Hart played 48, 48 and 43 minutes.
Hart was already in pain in the third quarter, with a heat pack on his abdomen, but Thibodeau still didn't let him rest. Brunson scored nine more points in the final quarter, but with Hart out of injury, the suspense was lost, and the Knicks were worried about whether Hart would be able to play a tie-break. At the end of the game, the Pacers defeated the Knicks 116-103 and tied the total score 3-3!
Siakam had 25 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals, Turner had 17 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, and Haliburton had 15 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists. Brunson had 31 points and five assists, McBride had 20 points, and DiVincenzo had 17 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. The tie-break will return to the Knicks' home court, at 3:30 a.m. Beijing time on May 20, who do you like?