Today's two sevenths were 15 points off at halftime.
However, the results were very different.
The Indiana Pacers defeated the Knicks in Game 7 at Madison Garden in New York to advance to the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals.
The last time they reached the Eastern Conference finals was ten years ago in 2014, and the year before in 2013 – Paul George, David West and Hibbert.
Further back? In 2004, twenty years later — the Pacers' coach at the time, as it is today, Rick Carlisle.
A group of big names on the sidelines of New York: Penelope Cruz for non-basketball, Rick Pitino for basketball, and Camby for the old Knicks. Presumably the Knicks want to celebrate on the spot after the promotion - Pacers: "Want to party? No way! ”
The long feud between the Knicks and the Pacers is one more thing.
The game was one-sided from the start: the Pacers shot 16-of-21 in the first quarter, shooting a record 76 percent from the field and 67 percent from three-point range in the first half; 67% overall, playoff record. 101 points in the third quarter, the highest since the Celtics in 1963.
The Knicks brought in the Cambys, presumably imagining the seventh game of Iron Will. However, the Pacers destroyed the Knicks in a hurry.
Reggie Miller: Cool! It's even cooler than my 8 seconds and 8 minutes and 25 minutes in a single quarter!!
It's not that the Knicks aren't tragic. They worked as cattle and horses for Coach Thibodeau, and the camp was full of injuries. Today, OG Anunoby came out with an injury and couldn't support it after playing 4 minutes. At that time, the reporter also asked Hart, how does OG look? Hart replied:
"Handsome!"
Brunson fought until the third quarter and finally went down with a hand injury. The ammunition is exhausted, the food is gone, and the lamp is exhausted. Hart came out with an injury himself, fought for 6 fouls in the fourth quarter, and was sent off, bathed in the applause of the audience. He deserved such an exit, although he himself was not very happy.
The Knicks were so tired. The Pacers shot 24 of the 30 shots in the first 30 of the opening game, half of which was accurate by themselves, and half was because the Knicks were physically exhausted and had no power to turn back and run.
In the second quarter, Burks scored 8 points in a row to save the game for the Knicks, but the discerning person knows at a glance: this is like Brunson squeezing DiVincenzo after he is tired, like Thibodeau using Ross in 2021, "This person is a dregs - the next one!" ”
Brunson made 4-of-13 shooting and 5 free throws in the half. The Pacers' defensive secret is simple: lead the defense from start to finish, and add a lock once Brunson gets rid of it. For example, Brunson broke through McConnell and Shepard stole the ball from him. For example, at the end of the second quarter, McConnell sent Brunson to the baseline, and Siakam blocked. For example, at the beginning of the third quarter, Brunson's layup was covered by Turner.
The Knicks' last chance was to chase the difference by 6 points in the third quarter, however: Haliburton assisted Nembhard for a layup; Naismith made a mid-range shot; Haliburton pushed a left-handed chest pass to allow Turner to make a three-pointer, and he suddenly caught Brunson to steal the ball and make a layup, 82-70.
After that, Brunson's hand injury could not continue, and the game was effectively over.
Compared to Coach Thibodeau's endless novice disciples, Coach Carlisle is constantly thinking about it today. For example, at the end of the second quarter, Siakam dribbled past half and made a mistake, leaving the Knicks with 7.8 seconds; Coach Carlisle immediately brought McConnell on the court to replace Haliburton, asked him to escort Brunson to Siakam, and a block put the halftime margin at 15 points. For example, after Haliburton countered with an 82-70 lead and played a timeout, the Pacers suddenly pressed on the court and forced the Knicks to a five-second violation.
But it's just one game, and if you look at it all season, there's something else.
Coach Thibodeau's style, we've seen it: squeezing, defending, hardworking, executing. After all, he is a disciple of Van Gundy, and he has also assisted Lao Lee's Celtic team to win the championship. The pinnacle of his personal record came in 2011, when he brought out the Bulls with Rose MVP and lost to the Miami Heat in the East finals. The following year, Rose was injured.
In fact, 2011 was also the pinnacle of Coach Carlisle: he took Dirk's Dallas team and won the championship.
Today, Coach Carlisle leads the Pacers to play the best offense in the league. But twenty years ago, he led the Detroit Pistons and brought out the Defensive Player of the Year, the most vicious Big Ben; He led the Indiana Pacers, brought out Artest, the Defensive Player of the Year, and the Pacers led by O'Neal Jr.
Of course, it was all ruined in Auburn Hills.
It's hard to imagine that the Dallas team in 2011 and the current Pacers were led by the same coach as the Pacers of Atay and the Pistons of Big Ben at that time, right?
The style of this walker, we also see:
Like the Celtics, they like to open up space, but since the playoffs, they have played the most passes in the league, the league with the least time in possession, and the league with the most aggressive counter-attacks and pick-and-roll cuts.
The performance in the game is: fast offense and defense, fast edge over the frontcourt; Five-outside attack, there are always people in the high position on the weak side, quickly occupy the bottom line of the strong side and the strong wing side, and quickly clear to the two-person side on one side when attacking.
Fast, unilateral start block and dismantle, multi-point flowering.
Smooth and comfortable.
Coach Carlisle was once the best tactician in the NBA, and Rondo thought he was setting up a playbook after a timeout was wrong, but Coach Carlisle admits that he has since slowly relinquished his control. He thinks that a quick half-time -- Turner's so-called two-second half-court -- and then a random attack is the hardest thing to defend against. Nembhard said the Pacers often don't know what the next second is going to attack, and "random is the hardest to defend."
It's probably unbelievable for those harsh coaches, but that's Carlisle and the Pacers. He gave the players, especially Haliburton, the freedom to do whatever they wanted. So the Pacers have never been so bitter. In the second quarter today, Haliburton talked and laughed freely on the sidelines, and took over in one breath in the third quarter.
Probably because, Carlisle had already given them the key.
In fact, when he was in Dallas, Coach Carlisle was already doing just that: he was going to make everyone play smoothly. He doesn't care about a single win. He wants to stagger playing time and rotate for a long time, avoid injuries and put every roster through the grind, so when it comes to the playoffs, he always has a lot of cards to play.
- We all know the thickness and changes of the Dallas branch in 2011. Everyone is useful in the main force, and even the substitute Barria can play a huge role. So Haywood and Butler are injured, and Dallas still has a whole bunch of people available.
- The most difficult moment for the 2014 champion Spurs was the first round against Dallas, which took seven games.
This series, it can be said that the Knicks were finally dragged down by injuries, and it can also be seen that Carlisle, the former master of control, feels that today is and yesterday is not keeping pace with the times, and now he is more random and fluent, and he believes in the style of the players, which overwhelms Coach Thibodeau's efforts, execution and squeezing.
It can also be seen as: people-oriented, taking the initiative to do things, overwhelming "squeeze one, next!" ”
At last:
The Eastern Conference Finals will be the Boston Celtics vs. Indiana Pacers.
Among the Pacers' basketball advisors is a man named Larry Bird.
(The atmosphere suddenly becomes delicate)
Minnesota Timberwolves, Game 7, away to the defending champion Nuggets, trailed by 15 points at halftime, completing the seventh biggest comeback in NBA history and the second Western Conference Finals in team history.
The last time was exactly two decades ago, when regular season MVP Kevin Garnett led the Timberwolves to beat the Sacramento Kings in Game 7 to advance to the Western Conference Finals.
The Nuggets' 15-point lead also came in a flurry way: Murray shot 4-of-23 in the first half in the past three games, and opened 1-of-5 today.
Both sides opened tightly: Timberwolves Towns defended Jokic and hit in time; The Nuggets used Gordon to defend Edwards and hit the ball in time. Both sides tried to attack, but Porter and Murray missed back-to-back shots, while Conley and Madan took advantage of the Nuggets to get Edwards open and lead 10-5 at one point.
Then Jokic took over: a mid-post draw to find the bottom corner of Pope, a throw, and a 10-12 run. The Timberwolves replaced Gobert, and Murray immediately broke through to tie the game at 12.
From then on, Murray took over: turned over and hit Walker, received two three-pointers from Jokic, and scored 13 points in the first quarter.
Murray's hand wasn't hot, and Jokic fed it: pulled out space for him to play back, fed him two threes.
Of course, Murray wasn't so easy on the defensive end: Look at Towns, who is a head taller than you over there? Prevent it!
- This is the decisive setup for the Nuggets today: Gordon, Braun and Pope rested on Edwards and killed Edwards no matter what; Avoid Edwards directly picking on Murray; Where to hide Murray? on the Downs.
Downs was probably furious and tried two bites of Murray; The Nuggets don't look right, Murray defends Gobert to go! - Can't prevent it? Foul!
The Nuggets ran out of tricks to freeze Edwards. Conley saw the clue and also took advantage of Edwards to shoot a three-pointer by being pinched, and also tried to break through to switch to a right-handed shot, but the Nuggets pinched Edwards and used Murray's small defense to deal with the twin towers, plus a timely foul. "You can shoot free throws — but don't think about shooting quickly."
The Timberwolves once overplayed: Lee Kyle came on the court, assisted Madan to shoot a three-pointer, and then counterattacked, and Lee Kyle made his own free throws to chase the difference to 5 points. This wave was stabilized by Jokic + Pope's two-person jump shot.
But then the Nuggets got it. One detail: After Lee Kyle came on the court, Murray went to play against him. After Walker came on, Murray went back to defend Walker.
Today, Murray defended Towns, Gobert, Lee Kyle and Walker, but he just didn't let him play against Edwards. That means, "These guys, especially the last three, are the best defense against the Timberwolves!" ”
Lee Kyle missed a strong shot in front of Jokic, Murray played with it, a Paul-style pass feint to pull the ball, and hit a three-pointer in the face of Lee Kyle, and the whole court was boiling. Lee's second-quarter effort subsided.
The Timberwolves kept trying to run, and Towns struggled to back Braun, who smiled at Towns' free throw after fouling him.
After Gordon dunked 45-31, Edwards, who was caught in the middle, finally saw a line of space, passed through the circle of Gordon and Braun and rushed straight to the basket, but was fouled by Pope on the spot.
Finally, the English commentator mentioned, "At the beginning, Curry and Ginobili both said that if you are flanked, you must be fierce and always move" - the reverse meaning: the Nuggets gave Edwards treatment at the Curry-level.
The Timberwolves tried to chase down points again at the end of the second quarter, and Towns faced Gordon with a three-pointer 48-36, while Edwards began to lead the defense against Murray; After that, Towns hit Braun with his back, and a Dirk-style back-up chased to a 10-point difference, but Coach Malone immediately called a timeout, and the Timberwolves were half extinguished by the Nuggets as soon as they gained momentum; After a timeout, Jokic rebounded and hit a three-pointer to stretch it to 13 points again.
In the second quarter, the Nuggets were represented by Braun. He wasn't bold enough — giving up an open basket to Porter and forcing Porter to "stop grinding, I'll shoot myself" — but clever and cunning. There are four moments:
- After defending against Edwards' difficult throws with his teammates, Braun picked up the ball between Edwards and Conley, then turned and burst into the free throws: a rugby ball striker-like move.
- Smile after a well-timed foul on Downs.
- Take advantage of Reid and Towns' fear of Jokic to break through and make free throws.
- In the final moments of the second quarter, Edwards saw through Jokic's intentions, copied the ball and counterattacked, but was blocked by Braun, and Murray reflected a shot that could have chased an 11-point difference, but changed by 15 points.
The Timberwolves are tough and brave enough, but the Nuggets are even older.
The third quarter was still the same, and at the beginning, when Murray faced Gobert for a layup 55-38, it looked like the Nuggets were already about to advance.
However, the Timberwolves' defense began to tighten up. The rotation was crisp, the pinch-shot return was accelerated, and the Nuggets couldn't find a gap.
Murray's layup was blocked by Gobert, Edwards chased the deficit to 12 points, and Coach Malone immediately continued the purpose of the second quarter: a timeout.
The Timberwolves really can't ignite, but the Nuggets can't attack either. And: The Timberwolves are starting to find their rhythm.
"You're just going to hit Edwards, aren't you?"
Edwards burst into the fold for Madan and trailed by nine points.
Edwards was quickly followed by a pinch, and Conley scored from the bottom corner to complete a 15-1 wave.
Of course, Edwards also had mistakes, such as trying to find the weak side of the bottom corner and being copied by Pope, such as breaking through and being shot by Gordon, but he had another way: a dunk with a 4-point difference.
Edwards rolled over in the corner to make a free throw, a two-point difference.
Jokic hit two backs and looked like he was about to get up, Edwards grabbed the ball from Murray and dunked, followed by a god-like three-pointer on a sideways jump, 67-66.
The Timberwolves came back from a 15-point deficit in the first quarter.
- Of course, in between, it was the Timberwolves who rotated perfectly, allowing Jokic and Pope to miss three-pointers in a row.
- If there is a choice, the Nuggets will definitely be happy to play a signature intersperse, but the Timberwolves did not give the Nuggets a chance.
— And, the Timberwolves are getting used to the Nuggets' pinch shots.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Nuggets still pinched Edwards, the Timberwolves passed quickly, and Gobert faced Gordon and scored free throws. In the next round, Jokic hesitated for three points and missed; After that, he missed another one, and missed the first seven three-pointers in total.
On the other side, Maidan, who was said by Edwards to be the secret of victory after the last game, confidently singled out Murray to win; Conley scored another feint three-pointer.
The momentum is in full swing in favor of the Timberwolves.
Jokic hit two three-pointers, but the Timberwolves hit back: Gobert made a magical Dirk-style step-back and turned to the basket to block Gordon's layup, allowing Gordon to get his fifth foul on the retreat.
Towns was in a hurry, committing five fouls, but Reed, the sixth man of the year, first blocked Jokic, who was exhausted, and then burst into a low-handed layup and scored on a dunk. Conley counter-attacked with the ball in midfield.
The Timberwolves' offensive bumps throughout the game are basically composed of these parts:
- Take advantage of Edwards' missed open shot after Edwards was pinched.
- Take advantage of the Nuggets' leaked frontcourt rebounds after Edwards was pinched.
- Downs, Maidan and Goebel take turns eating misplaced.
- Defensive counterattacks.
But that's enough, because they have perfect defensive communication and rotation.
By the time Edwards took a 92-82 lead, the game had fallen in favor of the Timberwolves.
It was a very clear situation: it was a 1999-2004 style game, and a three-pointer would have excited the crowd for a long time, and in such a game, 10 points was a trench.
So the Nuggets lost.
Murray scored 24 points in the first half and 35 in the game, but the second half did not continue.
Jokic had 34 points, 19 rebounds and 7 assists, but his missed three-pointer — which has been inaccurate in this year's playoffs — and the countless times he "couldn't find a chance to play and had to attack" seemed to be extremely difficult: so he didn't suffer Reed's hats in the end.
Outside of them, the Nuggets scored 21 points on 8-of-28 shooting. It's not that Gordon, Porter and Pope are weak, it's that the Timberwolves' defensive rotation is too perfect.
And, five years in a row, right? The defending champions did not reach the divisional finals the following year.
Maidan continued his sixth-game play, cutting inside, three-pointers, and eating Murray alone. Perfect defensive end other than fouls.
Gobert dragged down the offense in the first half, missing 3 shots; In the second half, both offensive and defensive ends were alive.
Reid wrapped up the finish for the team.
Towns played the best playoff game of his career, and in the first three quarters of the game, he and Jokic played back and forth, almost carrying the Timberwolves forward on their backs.
Edwards scored 16 points on 6-of-24 shooting on 6-of-24 shooting after averaging 55 percent shooting for an entire series.
After being pinched, he did everything he could: pass, transfer, dunk.
In other words, 6 of 24 in the seventh game...... Familiar, right?
I have said before that the configuration of the Timberwolves - ace + twin towers + left-handed old point guard + sixth man forward of the year + perimeter lock, much like the Lakers in 2009 and 2010.
In Game 7 of the 2010 Lakers championship, Bryant shot 6-of-24 — but had 23 frontcourt rebounds as a team.
In the 1996 Bulls championship game, Jordan shot 5-of-19 — but had 24 frontcourt rebounds as a team.
Basketball is like that: pinching the ace, missing a three-pointer, or losing a rebound. Today, it's those wing-wing three-pointers from Madan and Conley, the moment when Murray/Braun went small against Towns, the Timberwolves' terrifying 34 rebounds in the second half, and the 22 free throws from the forward trio — how many times have the Nuggets been forced to foul the Twin Towers in order to pinch Edwards? Not to mention the finale, Gobert and Reed stepped forward to rebound.
The most adaptable offense, the toughest defense.
The Timberwolves were young, the ace was clipped, and they trailed by 15 points in Game 7, relying on the transfer under the pinch, relying on rebounding and defense, and relying on consistent defense to win.
- The Knicks next door are 15 points behind, and they don't have the strength to catch up.
In 2004, Coach Carlisle's Pacers made it to the Eastern Conference finals and the Timberwolves to the Western finals. Twenty years later, the past is restored.
The last time KG led the Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals in 2004, the final winner was a team with the best defense in the league with twin towers.
What about this year?
Twenty years ago today, KG played the best game of his career, with 32 points, 21 rebounds, 4 steals and 5 blocks to sink the Kings, who had two Balkan legends just before Jokic: Divac and Peja. Divac and Webber were the best long-distance passers of their time — until Jokic came along.
That day was, and today too: the day the Timberwolves made legends in history.
- It is also the birthday of the first person in the history of the Timberwolves, Kevin Garnett.
- I can't think of a better birthday present......