The Indiana Pacers came out of halftime of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals playing more quickly. The New York Knicks couldn’t handle it, and now they’re heading home.
The Indiana Pacers used a couple of big runs and a lot of running to make it to their second-ever NBA Finals.
In a series that was often about the Pacers’ lack of weaknesses, it was their true strengths that pushed them past the New York Knicks for good. Their ability to play quickly and share the ball without making mistakes was too much for the Knicks to handle, and the series ended Saturday night with Indiana’s 125-108 home win to set up a championship series with favorite Oklahoma City.
The Pacers lead was just four at halftime, but Rick Carlisle clearly made it a point of emphasis for the Pacers to play faster in the third quarter. It didn’t matter if it was a turnover, a miss or even a made basket. The Pacers were off and running.
Run and Gun
The relentlessness of the Pacers’ pace clearly caught the Knicks off guard and helped counter one of New York’s biggest strengths.
The Knicks were getting plenty of offensive rebounds early in the game. Mitchell Robinson had five himself in the first quarter. The Pacers’ decision to run in the second half made the Knicks pay each time they went for offensive rebounds and didn’t get them. The Knicks didn’t have enough floor balance to get defenders back in time when they had multiple players trying to grab offensive rebounds. Their most physical and impactful defensive players were the ones going for offensive boards, so even when they did get players back, it was often their worst defenders in mismatches.
The result was an avalanche of easy layups and drawn fouls. The Pacers had 25 fastbreak points to the Knicks’ 10.
The Knicks didn’t just give up transition looks when Robinson or Josh Hart were out of position while trying to keep a possession alive, which would have at least been somewhat excusable. They were too slow getting back after they made shots. And on at least one occasion, the Pacers got an easy opportunity because Miles McBride fell down on a 3-point attempt trying to get a foul call.
The Knicks needed to be the more desperate team three games in a row to come back in the series against the Pacers. That’s not easy to do, especially in a road game. The Pacers played like a team that didn’t want to go back to New York for Game 7. The Knicks played like a team out of gas after exerting a lot of energy in Game 5.
Like they’ve done all season, the Pacers solved a problem not by mimicking their opponents, but by leaning into their identity as a team. They’ve been the perfect blend of malleability and consistency, and that’s not easy to do. Often, when teams try different lineups, they can lose what makes them great.
The Pacers never do. When they’re playing small or big, fast or slow, they’re a team predicated on quick decisions and team basketball. Every player that steps on the court knows their role and how it helps the team. Their team is greater than the sum of its parts, and the parts are already pretty darn good.
Center of Attention
In Game 6, no player exemplified the Pacers’ ethos more than Thomas Bryant.
Bryant wasn’t the Pacers’ first choice at backup center. Isaiah Jackson and James Wiseman were both lost to Achilles injuries and Bryant was acquired from the Miami Heat to fill in behind Myles Turner.
In this series against the Knicks’ physical front line, Bryant has mostly been relegated to the bench. He came into Game 6 with 22 minutes played in the series and four points. Rick Carlisle has opted to play Tony Bradley instead to counter Robinson’s effectiveness on the glass.
Bradley was hurt coming into Game 6 and, although he was active, that likely played a role in Bryant getting minutes. But this time, Bryant was ready.
He scored 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting. All three makes were 3-pointers, and his gravity created real problems for the Knicks defense. They’ve been completely ignoring Bradley on offense when he played in the series, and that was no longer an option with Bryant’s hot hand.
Bryant may not have been the Pacers’ first choice, either to start the season or the series. But, like every Pacer who has played minutes, he came in ready to fill a role to the best of his ability. And he delivered in Game 6.
Shutting Down the Stars
The offensive boost from a quicker pace could’ve been detrimental to the Pacers’ defense. But they came out with much better execution against the Knicks’ two stars and that was enough of a difference on that side of the ball.
Perhaps it was fatigue, but Karl-Anthony Towns’ 3-point shot gradually left him as the series got to the late stages. He shot 9 of 20 on 3-point attempts in games 1-3 combined; in games 4-6, he shot 2 of 10. For a player who has called himself the best shooting big man of all time, the volume or accuracy wasn’t enough in the last three games. With 22 points on 19 shots, Towns had his worst offensive game of the series in Game 6.
Jalen Brunson was also at his worst in Game 6. He had scored at least 30 points in four of the first five games of the series but had just 19 points on 8-of-18 shooting in Game 6. Fatigue could’ve played a factor for him as well. He had his worst game of last year’s series against the Pacers in Game 7 after shouldering a huge offensive burden throughout the series. This could’ve been similar.
But the Pacers also played better defense on him. Andrew Nembhard has struggled to stop Brunson in the past, but his physicality gave Brunson issues in Game 6. The Pacers were also more aggressive in helping on the perimeter against Brunson, likely because the other Knicks were struggling with their shots. They did a good job of changing up how they guarded Brunson frequently and it flustered him and the entire Knicks’ offense.
Last year, the Knicks had several key injuries when they lost to the Pacers in the playoffs. This year, there were no doubts who the better team was by the end of the series. The Pacers were better at dictating the tempo, better in the clutch and better at consistently being the best versions of themselves. Now, after falling a round short last year, they’re moving onto the NBA Finals.
Pacers Push Tempo and Run the Knicks Out of the Playoffs in Game 6 Opta Analyst.
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