Changing of the "guard" leads to Game 5 letdown for Pacers, resulting in 3-2 series

On what changed for Indiana's guards and may still need to change with regarding to guarding Karl-Anthony Towns

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

With a chance to advance to the NBA Finals, the Pacers let their guard down and vice versa. After amassing a historic triple-double in Game 4, Tyrese Haliburton was held to just eight points on 2-of-7 shooting in Game 5, as the Knicks notched their highest average pick-up point of the series with the star guard on the floor. Of course, this isn't the first time that Haliburton has been face-guarded in this playoff run, but it is the first time that he's been face-guarded to this extent with O.G. Anunoby opposite from Andrew Nembhard. Meanwhile, in addition to the "changing of the guard" with regard to playing four-on-four, Karl-Anthony Towns (10) finished with more drives than Haliburton (9), Nembhard (7), and T.J. McConnell (8). Limited at the wheel without forcing Towns to deal, the Pacers now have to get back to driving in Indy in order to avoid flying back to New York.

Joining me to discuss what changed for Indiana's guards in Game 5, as well as what still may need to change with respect to guarding Karl-Anthony Towns, is once again Samson Folk.

Here are the relevant timestamps:

0:00 - Introductions

4:55 - Anunoby limiting Nembhard with Bridges face-guarding Haliburton (i.e. the difficulty of playing 4v4 when the toughest defender is opposite from Nembhard)

9:11 - Myles being handed a lot of passes that weren't handled

10:33 - Anunoby guarded Haliburton, too + 77 skip as a counter for weak-ing

16:59 - Brief rant on KAT "preferring to drive left" (i.e. the Pacers are shading him that direction for a reason!)

17:37 - KAT finishing with more drives than any of Indiana's point guards, all without ever being forced to make a pass

24:26 - Siakam only setting 10 screens despite being guarded by KAT

27:55 - More cutting would be good (i.e. not matching the force of the Knicks)

31:02 - Oh hey, Jarace Walker played and probably needs to play again in Game 6

41:16 - The process of this loss being different than that of Game 3 + why the response will also likely need to be different in Game 6

43:24 - Brief rant on the prevailing notion that "Brunson needs to play more like Haliburton, and Haliburton needs to play more like Brunson" without considering what role the defense plays in how each of them are playing

49:18 - Expecting responses from both Haliburton and Siakam in Game 6

51:47 - How Grim Fandango relates to the Pacers headed into Game 6

54:13 - Thank you & Goodbye