In the second round of G6, the Pacers defeated the Knicks 116-103 at home, bringing the score to 3-3.
The playoffs are like this, almost every game is over, and the losing side will make adjustments according to the cause of defeat in the previous game, for example, Timberwolves Nuggets G5 and G6, G5 Gobert's single defense Jokic was blown up, so G6 used Towns to defend Jokic and Gobert to assist in defense, and it immediately got results.
The same is true for the Knicks Pacers in this round of the series, before G5, the Knicks replaced McBride as the starter, Achiuwa put him off the bench, and used a small lineup to catch the Pacers off guard, and then won by 30 points.
In this G6 game, the Knicks, as the winner, followed the strategy of the previous game, and then the Pacers immediately made adjustments, facing the Knicks' small lineup, they strengthened the impact on the interior and the protection of rebounds (the Pacers trailed the Knicks 5-20 in the last offensive rebound).
So we can see that the Pacers scored 62 points inside the game, while the Knicks only had 38 points, and the rebounds Pacers also led 49-35, so although the Knicks made more three-pointers, the victory still belonged to the Pacers.
The Knicks' star star, Jalen Brunson shot 11 of 26 in this game, 3 of 8 three-pointers, 6 of 9 free throws, scored 31 points and 5 assists, and scored the highest score in the game again, including 26 points in the second half;
However, Brunson didn't play well in the first half, after 2 of 2 in the opening game, he lost all 11 shots in the next quarter, and 0 of 6 in the second quarter and didn't score a single point, the Knicks lost by 11 points in this quarter, and they lost by 13 points in the whole game.
After this game, a lot of criticism of Brunson was heard.
For Brunson, our view has always been that he really did his best in this year's playoffs, averaging 33.7 points and 7.3 assists per game, as evidenced by the fact that he is first in the league in scoring and sixth in assists in the league.
Some fans may think that Brunson is not efficient, yes, the true shooting rate so far in the playoffs is only 54.1%, but in the injury-ridden Knicks, his production is more important than efficiency, if he gets 40+ in this game, maybe the Knicks have advanced.
So, since when did Brunson start to be asked to "he has to take 40+ to win"? This should be what people are asking for 21 Doncic and 18 James, and Brunson was a substitute until three years ago and didn't start until two years ago.
Today, though, our protagonist isn't Brunson, it's Hart, another man who worked so hard for the Knicks.
In this game, Hart only played a total of 31 minutes, shooting 2 of 8, 1 of 4 three-pointers, only 5 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 turnovers, with a plus/minus of -15, which is definitely not outstanding.
However, Hart was a real man, and he was pushed to the abdomen during a confrontation in the first half, and he fell to his knees with his stomach in his hands.
In the subsequent game, the camera showed Hart several times, and it was obvious that he was very unwell, however, after a short break, he put multiple muscle patches on his abdomen and continued to play.
Because the left abdomen was pushed up, Hart had to use the other side to fight in the second half, but the effect was obviously not good, he was 0 of 3 in a single quarter, and he didn't get one;
Shortly after the start of the fourth quarter, Hart was substituted and it was evident that an abdominal injury had caused him a lot of pain, and he returned to the locker room early and did not return.
Speaking after the game, Brunson spoke about Hart's injury, saying: "I guess he'll play in the next game, because it's a tie-break. ”
However, American journalist Evan Sidery wrote: From the NBA historical example, even a minor abdominal injury, the typical timeline indicates that it will be out for 1-2 weeks, so whether Hart can play in the tie-break and 48 hours of recovery time will be severely tested.
Hart in this year's playoffs is really hard.
Not counting this game, in the previous 11 playoff games, Hart played an average of 43.7 minutes per game, scoring 15.8 points, 12.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists, shooting 44.7%/40.0%/70.5% from three, and 55.8% from the field.
His total minutes played were 373 minutes, which ranked first in the league, a full 63 minutes (equivalent to 1.5 games) more than Jokic, who was second in the league, and 134 total rebounds, second in the league behind Jokic at 142.
Among them, from the first round of G5 to the second round of G2, in the four games, Hart's playing time was 53 minutes, 46.5 minutes, 48 minutes, and 48 minutes, and he played an average of 48.9 minutes per game, which is quite crazy.
If you zoom in to 2024 so far, Hart's total playing time has reached 2,278 minutes, which is still the first in the league.
Hart's official height is only 1.93 meters, but every game, he has to rush into the box to bite and scramble with a group of insiders, and occasionally shoot a few key three-pointers.
It is worth mentioning that this year is not Hart's contract year, on the contrary, he just renewed his contract with the Knicks for four years and 81 million last offseason - how many players start to lie flat after taking a big contract, but Hart is still so desperate after taking the contract, even with an abdominal injury, there is no other more reasonable explanation except for "wanting to win".
However, everyone has limits, although an abdominal injury is not a devastating injury, but it is not a small injury that can easily stick to the game, if it is not handled properly, it is easy to repeat, so if we can't see Hart in the seventh battle, we will not be surprised.
This Knicks, injured Randle, injured Bojan, injured Mitchell Robinson, injured OG Anunoby, and now injured Hart, their injury list can form a good starting lineup, the next tie-break, win or lose, is worthy of respect.