NBA Playoffs 2024: Pacers Dominate Knicks to Force Thrilling Game 7
NBA Playoffs Updates 2024: The Indiana Pacers delivered a commanding 116-103 victory over the New York Knicks on Friday, setting the stage for an exhilarating Game 7 in their Eastern Conference second-round series.
In the Eastern Conference second-round series, the Indiana Pacers defeated the New York Knicks 116-103 on Friday in Indianapolis, forcing a Game 7 between the two teams. Pascal Siakam finished with 25 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.
For the sixth-seeded Pacers, Myles Turner added 17 points and eight rebounds. For Indiana, Tyrese Haliburton scored fifteen points and dished out nine assists; Andrew Nembhard contributed fifteen points, six rebounds, and six assists; T.J. McConnell scored fifteen as well.
That’s how our team is put together, Siakam remarked. Simply said, we share the basketball. There is no one on the floor who is safe. We must have our bench. We really need the enthusiasm that T.J. and the other guys are bringing to the table in Game 7.
For the second-seeded Knicks, Jalen Brunson scored 26 of his 31 points in the second half. Donte DiVincenzo scored 17 points, Miles McBride scored 20, and Precious Achiuwa finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.
In New York, Game 7 is on Sunday afternoon. In the six games of the series, the home team has prevailed.
It’s a one-game series now, according to Haliburton. For all the marbles, that is. Madison Square Garden is a great place to host a Game 7. In this series, neither team has managed a victory away from home. We must be prepared to leave.
In Game 6, the Pacers led by as much as 23 points following a run of blowout victories in the series. After a 121-89 victory by Indiana in Game 4, New York easily won 121-91 in Game 5.
“We had to play better tonight,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle stated. “We improved our ball movement and grabbed more rebounds, which is obviously crucial to this series.”
Josh Hart of New York, who is dealing with a left abdominal injury, finished the game on Friday with five points and eight rebounds in 31 minutes. With 9:53 remaining in the game, he departed the court, and the Knicks declared him out for the rest of it shortly after.
Regarding the team’s most recent injury, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau remarked, “This is the nature of the playoffs.” This is the aim of your play. You adore rivalry. This concludes it. You will undergo physical, mental, and emotional testing. You must be capable of overcoming that. Therefore, we can overcome whatever it is that we are up against. Simply never give up.
Indiana, which shot 53.8 percent from the field, including 9 of 26 (34.6 percent) from 3-point range, was led by 11 points from Obi Toppin. The Pacers had a 47–35 advantage in rebounds.
The Knicks went 13 of 34 (38.2%) from behind the arc and made 43.9 percent of their field goal attempts.
Early in the second half, the Pacers went on a 10-2 run to start pulling away. With 8:56 remaining in the half, Turner completed the comeback with a slam, giving the home team a 71-58 lead.
Later in the quarter, Indiana added a 9-1 run, and with 2:39 remaining in the game, McConnell’s three-point shot put the score at 84-66.
With 14.3 seconds remaining in the quarter, Brunson made a 3-pointer to tie the score at 88-75 and give him 14 points for the session.
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According to Brunson, “they have been doing a great job all series of making adjustments.” “I also need to make some changes. It was a combination of my poor play and my missed shots. The Pacers went on a 14-4 rally to start the last quarter. With 8:24 remaining, Nembhard’s 3-pointer increased the lead to 99-79. Ben Sheppard then made a three-pointer 32 seconds later to make the difference 23. Indiana continued to go at a high speed.
Carlisle remarked, “Listen, you can’t sit around patting yourself on the back in a series like this.” “In the next game, that’s what gets your (expletive) kicked.” We’re going to prepare for Sunday afternoon and limit, if not completely eliminate, our celebrations.
With 15 points in the first half, Siakam gave the Pacers a 61-51 lead at the intermission. For New York, McBride and DiVincenzo each scored 15 points in the first half. Brunson finished the first half with five points on 2-of-13 shooting after missing his final 11 shots.
Brunson remarked, “They try to make things difficult so I have to adjust as well.” They gave me various glances, and I need to get better at interpreting them. I can’t play the same way I did during the first forty minutes of the match.
