Hapless Pacers drop Game 5 to Knicks

That basically says it all

By: Samson Folk I @samfolkk

The first quarter belonged to Jalen Brunson. Both teams come into every game looking for ways to unleash their star point guard on the other team and the Knicks were tremendous at funneling possessions to Brunson, and away from Tyrese Haliburton on the other end. The Knicks star guard had 14 points in a rush, on seven shots, and scored in a variety of ways. 

The Knicks really upped their pressure on the outside, which tilted things toward the inside for the Pacers who were forced to rely on Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam, and the former was extremely jittery to start. Towards the back end of the quarter we were watching Ben Sheppard short roll possessions. You read that correctly. The Knicks jumped out to a 10-point lead on the strength of all of this. A Pascal Siakam and bench lineup (Sheppard-Mathurin-McConnell-Bradley) had a quality stretch to end the quarter. They got stops, ran out, and relied a little bit on tough shot making to close the gap to four before the quarter closed. 

“We gotta keep the pace going.” - Haliburton in between quarters. 

Siakam and bench played more or less even to start the second quarter, but once the mostly starter lineup checked back in they passed out of far too many drives. Watching one team, the Knicks, take their momentum all the way to the hoop repeatedly while the Pacers constantly picked up their dribble early to pass out (and often for negative looks) or immediately zip horizontally to escape back out above the break - it was intensely frustrating. The Knicks took that trend in play and extended their lead back out to 14 points. New York extended their pressure and faced no consequence at the basket. Unfortunate. 

WE INTERRUPT YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING FOR JARACE WALKER MINUTES

Walker hit a triple after Siakam and Haliburton linked up, which was nice. However, in the stretch to close the second quarter, the Knicks got a couple turnovers to run out, and they got a bit of half-court shot making from Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns. The Pacers still hadn’t sorted the Knicks defense out yet and were underperforming their shot making capabilities a little bit on top of that. They trailed by 11 after the first 24, and had lots to correct. 56-45. 

Ultimately, the Knicks shot over 2x as many shots in the restricted area as the Pacers did (21 v 12) and shot a better percentage in there. They also kept the Pacers away from their run n gun stuff, and the Pacers had some self imposed errors with their decision making in the open court to exacerbate all of it. It wasn’t the formula the Pacers wanted, or rather, needed. 

A hot start to the second half for Brunson and the continued pressure from the Knicks defense helped them extend their lead to 20 points. 43 points on 26 shots for the Knicks star duo of Towns and Brunson to that point. The Pacers had three turnovers in the first four minutes, and you could often see Turner 30 feet away from the basket trying to avoid pressure. It was a really poor start for the away team. Lazy turnovers, lack of shot making, and an altogether hapless offensive process. 

Siakam asserting himself on offense to draw a foul on Towns — even though he struggled from the line on the night — was uber important. Towns left the floor and the Pacers were much more capable of getting stops, which helped a Haliburton and bench lineup to break off a 10-2 run. Mathurin was a pretty big piece of that run. Then, the Pacers decided to Hack-a-Robinson. Mathurin drew a foul next time down the floor, closed the lead to 10, and forced Tom Thibodeau to sub in Precious Achiuwa for Robinson. Huge swing. Brunson responded with a no pass possession as he beat the full court press and hit a banker. Then Bridges hit a baseline fader. Then, in what was a capper on the disastrous stretch, Toppin fouled Brunson for a four-point play. Sigh. A long stretch of play to whittle the lead back down, and undone in less than a minute of game time. Inexcusable. 

An and-1 for Achiuwa after he clobbered Siakam on the other end. A pull-up jumper for Deuce McBride. A deficit of 22 points. Mathurin and Siakam pushed hard to close the gap at the end of the quarter (with Mathurin’s shot-making doing most of the heavy lifting), but the Pacers still went into the final frame down by 17 points as Bridges hit a fader to close the quarter out. 

The Pacers had gotten shockingly little from their core. Siakam was providing the only pop, and even then, doing so while having a rough shooting night. The rest of the starting lineup had combined for 18 points on 20 shots. 

90-73. To the death. 

The Pacers showed zone and gave up a long jumper to Landry Shamet to start the fourth. Siakam trapped Shamet down low and drew a double down low before finding Mathurin on the cut for free throws. Anunoby canned a triple in response. The grind began. 

Siakam and Mathurin brought the capes out, man. They worked tirelessly to create every possible thing for the Pacers offense, to try and put the team in a position where a Haliburton led, supercharged run could come and steal this game back. A 9-1 run, capped off by a Walker triple, and a 12-point deficit. 

Starters checked back in. Siakam and Mathurin left the floor and the lead ballooned to 18. There went the game. 

The Pacers were beat in virtually every aspect of this one. They responded poorly to pressure. They shot worse. They rebounded worse. They turned the ball over more. They couldn’t rely on a handful of their dependable players. This team has been physical and gritty in this playoff run, and done so to survive bad shot making stretches, but this game wasn’t even close. 

Handful of guys need to look in the mirror, then come back into the fold - then you go grab Game 6 as a team. 

Have a blessed day.