Get Big Win Big

By: Samson Folk I @samfolkk

A reminder: Caitlin’s deep dive comes later. This is just supposed to hold you over. 

Since the tip-off that started this series, the Pacers were looking at a couple very big advantages.

Their depth and health were in better positions than the Knicks.

They had the superior frontcourt, and more size.

With the Knicks being the kind of team that defies convention – about anything, really – they battled like hell to shrink the depth margin and health margin, by simply playing more minutes and suffering no consequences - for a time. They battled in longer minutes and against bigger players. The longer games went on, the better they got. The longer the series has gone on? The attrition, or luck, or whatever you might attribute to it, has moved against them.

The matchup that best exemplifies where this series is at? Pascal Siakam vs. Josh Hart. It’s been a matchup that Hart loses on defense, but his job is to lose it by an acceptable amount, and he’s done a great job to do so thus far. However, from the outset of game 6, Siakam brought the ruckus to him. Siakam was hyper-aggressive in working for space, punishing whoever tried to take it from him, and refusing to surrender the ball to the rotation the Knicks wanted most. A real punch in the mouth to the Knicks defense, as Siakam lunged and shouldered into the paint for 13 attempts to help change the geometry of the Pacers half court offense - where they could tread water and make a killing in transition.

Hart still managed to play nearly 31 minutes, but he was clearly bothered by some sort of abdominal injury throughout and would eventually have to leave the game with abdominal soreness. This affected how he guarded Siakam in the early going, and after his departure, turned the Siakam vs. whoever matchup into repeated opportunities for doubles (and the playmaking that would come out of them) or for more productive 2-man actions for Haliburton to operate in because of the big being forced to guard Siakam. The fever pitch of it all was when Siakam got doubled on the catch, spun off of it and located Turner making a 45-cut before he punched in a thunderous dunk. There were multiple times throughout this game where the ball came to Turner’s hands and it looked like the seas were parting to the rim - and without a rim protector lying in wait. The frontcourt as a whole combined for 57 points and 22 rebounds, while leading the Pacers to a win on the glass (47-35).

The Pacers put up the 2nd most paint points they ever have in the last 25 years of their playoff lives, in this game. On the other side, the Pacers were able to wall off the rim, force misses there, and slow the Knicks to a crawl overall.

They played big, and they did it well. Isaiah Jackson was spunky and made good passing reads. Obi Topping was, as always, a huge punch of energy and provided a great pop. Turner had a tremendous driving game. Siakam took the influx of possessions and operated, truly, as the Pacers offensive hub in a huge elimination game.

The frontcourt brought the ruckus. Let’s hope they do it again for game 7. This Pacers team, that achieves so many things as a collective, has an opportunity to do things that way or let superstardom show up at the death in New York. We’ll see.

Have a blessed day.