It's the shotmaking

By: Samson Folk I @samfolkk

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

Counters and course corrections. Aaron Nesmith started out on Jalen Brunson and held him to one of his worst quarters of this young series. With a bit more size on ball – all the aggressiveness you can ask for – and less shooters on the floor for the Knicks? The Pacers had more license to help aggressively without blowing up the shell of their defense, and Nesmith did a great job of funneling when he turned his hips and contesting/containing when he could keep Brunson in front. That changed everything. 

True to form though, the Knicks (seemingly by the snap of their fingers) torpedoed Donte DiVincenzo into the volume shooting limelight - and he made good on it. On a shot diet that wouldn’t quite make either of the Splash Bros. blush, but would comfortably fit into a really nice shooting game from them, DiVincenzo let it rain. The Knicks backcourt put up 52 shots, and Divo was responsible for half of those - and about a third of all the points his team would score on the night. 

We’re talking pulls off one dribble while being chased over a handoff. Sprinting into space and rising up. Taking a couple steps back from the line to create a look and a heat check. 7-11 from downtown, DiVincenzo put on an absolute clinic. Alec Burks came into the game and scored 13 points in his first handful of minutes, almost all on jump shots and was 100% from the field at one point. Brunson made a pull-up triple that would put hearts in throats. Let’s take a pause on that though, and talk about what the Pacers star point guard was doing all the while. 

No skipping, no smiles, a modest amount of assists, and a lot of scoring. Tyrese Haliburton turned it up for the second game in a row, and made it clear early on that he would be pursuing less frictionless scoring, and going the way of friction - so much so that he rolled his ankle on a late layup that he still kissed off the rim with the perfect amount of english. 

An early switch onto Hartenstein managed to tease a handful of dribbles out of Haliburton, but instead of passing out, the rim beckoned to him and he answered the call. Long legs, a low pick up, and a deft finish. It wasn’t the first time we’d see it, and his forays into the paint meant a lot for a Pacers team that would finally be let down by their bench and couldn’t play fast as often as they’d like. He tied DiVincenzo & Brunson for the most shots taken in this game, and he did what Caitlin & I had been asking of him: live and die with your own performances. Don’t make people look to backup point guards to save a second round playoff team. Be the star who defines a win. 

He certainly did. 

Even if the volume wasn’t crazy late in the game – after the great stretch with the pick six, of course – the looks that found the Pacers good shots were a product of his decision making and his gravity - most commonly a screening action with Pascal Siakam. Even Siakam, who had a couple decision making gaffes in this game, did what was necessary (for the most part). He was hyper efficient, he hit the corner three that fell into his lap, he self created for a handful of makes, and even as Doris Burke discussed his free throw struggles (which have been terrible) in the background, he hit 78-percent from the line on high volume, with some big ones late. Lots to clean up, but made shots aren’t anything to stick your nose up at in a low scoring game (relative to the league these days, and especially the Pacers.) The same can be said for Myles Turner as well. 

The Pacers shot & crashed & pursued with vigor, and won a game in a style that the Knicks would recognize. 

Basketball is about made shots. It really is. Burks & DiVincenzo going burner mode and doing it on difficult volume isn’t something you can really plan for. There were sloppy possessions by the Pacers defensively to allow some of it, but sometimes role players access the impact of stars. 

Enter, Andrew Nembhard. 

Nembhard, who got beat up every moment he spent on Brunson. Nembhard, who made a couple very costly off-ball rotations. Nembhard, who saw the Knicks defense bend into uncomfortable positions to guard others and couldn’t take advantage of it. 

Nembhard, who stepped that thing back and cashed the game winner from 29-feet. His gather was clumsy. He fumbled the ball on the catch, too. However, the ball ended up in his shooting pocket eventually and after that, the bucket. One of the sloppiest possessions of the night became one of the best. That’s playoff basketball. Fight like hell, steal what you can, tell the variance it’s for the birds. That’s exactly how the Knicks have been doing it, too. 

Big smiles from Andrew, and a chance to tie things up on Sunday, in what has been a wacky and wild series. Looking forward to more of the mayhem. 

Have a blessed day.