Thunder knocks off the Knicks and fights the Thunder for the NBA Finals Crown
USA TODAY SPORTS ‘Lorenzo Reyes breaks down the way the Indiana Pacers fought towards the NBA Finals.
Sports Pulse
The Indiana Pacers are trying to make history.
This is only the second time in franchise history, and the team has moved to the NBA Finals where the Oklahoma City Thunder is waiting for.
Pacer, who never won an NBA title, sent the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals on Saturday night, in six games behind tempo, shot-making and improved defense.
Forward Pascal Siakam dropped 31 points, while Ty Halliburton added 21 assists and 13 assists.
The Knicks kept things close until the decisive third quarter, when the Pacers outperformed New York at 11. New York’s top offensive threat, Jalen Branson was the third leading lead scorer on the 19-point team.
Winners and losers of the Eastern Conference Finals Closeout Game between the Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks:
Pacers spread wealth
In Game 5 on Thursday night, the Pacers’ only starter to score in double digits forward Pascalciacam, who only scored 15 points. In Game 6 on Saturday night, it was a very different story. All seven pacers and five starters reached double digits, with Siakam leading by 31 points. Indiana whipped the ball around the floor, moving it far more efficiently than before two nights, and the Pacers’ speed made the Knicks hard to catch up.
In Game 5, Indiana recorded just 20 assists, while All-Star point guard Tyrees Halliburton scored just six. On Saturday, the Pacers handed out 30 dimes, 13 of which were Halliburton dimes.
Andrew Nenbard
He had an offensively rough series, and without doubt, Pacers guard Andrew Nenbird took on the assignment to defend Jalen Branson with determination. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle switched things early in Game 6, putting Nembhard in Branson as Aaron Nesmith slowed down due to an ankle injury.
Nembhard responded with Brunson as a body, defending all 90 feet and giving him a sense of constant pressure. In the first half, Branson only shot four of the 10 points off the field. Nembhard finished with six steels.
Thomas Bryant
He lost a few minutes to fellow Pacers big man Tony Bradley, but Bradley’s hip injury caused Bryant to return to Game 6 rotation. The third quarter, when the Pacers pulled away from the Knicks, was when Bryant was the brightest of his shining brightest, scoring eight of the 11 points in that period, draining a pair of huge threes.
New York Ball Security
The Pacers award a sum of ball handlers and jump gaps with a jump gap for flocks and harassment, but New York’s careless approach to the ball costs the Knicks of the game. New York committed 18 turnovers, leading to 34 pacer points.
The Pacers turn these sales into quick attacks, firing the floor and flapping up at players who often open wide into baskets.
New York’s transition defense
Whether it’s cumulative fatigue from six games trying to match the tempo of the pacer or whether it’s a lack of attention to detail, the Knicks have simply admitted too many attempts against the pacer in the transition. This was a problem throughout the Eastern Conference Finals. The Pacers are known for running players to the floor for open layups, even after their opponents convert their field goals.
The concern for New York was that it did not adapt to this during the course of the game. In fact, if anything, Pacer leaned into speed in the second half. No player has easily gotten a layup for every series than Pascal Siakam after starting a pass to him after his teammate leaked out. Four of his first seven field goals were transition layups. Overall, the Pacers outperformed New York in a 25-10 transition.
New York border defense
Without a doubt, the Knicks took a loose approach to protect Indiana’s boundary shots, obtaining multiple players with uncontested looks and preventing them from closing. Much of this came when Knicks players, especially Karl Anthony’s Centertown, came out under the screen and lacked the effort and strength to meet the Indiana shooter. The Pacers attacked this repeatedly, asking for a pick-and-roll when the town was a secondary defender.
Indiana shot 33-17 (51.5%) over the arc. And since the Knicks only had 3-32 (28.1%) shots, meaning that the pacer carried a 24-point advantage from the deep.
