The Indiana Pacers eliminated the New York Knicks with a 130-109 victory in Game 7 of their second-round NBA playoff series on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. The Pacers, who had a historic offensive performance, ran away from the undermanned Knicks, who lost star guard Jalen Brunson to a hand injury in the second half. The Pacers are moving on to face the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals. The Knicks have still not made the conference finals since 2000.
The Pacers had no Game 7 jitters on Sunday. Indiana shot 67.1% from the floor for the game, the best field-goal percentage by a team in any playoff game in NBA history. The Pacers could barely miss in the first half, shooting 76.3% from the field in the first 24 minutes and recording 39 first-quarter points -- the most by any team in any quarter in a Game 7.
Tyrese Haliburton had 26 points to lead the Pacers, who saw every starter score at least 17 points. Pascal Siakam and Andrew Nembhard both added 20 points, while T.J. McConnell had 12 points and seven assists in 23 minutes off the bench.
Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo had a game-high 39 points. He hit nine 3-pointers in the loss -- the most ever in a Game 7 by one player.
Both Josh Hart (abdomen) and OG Anunoby (hamstring) started the game for the Knicks after being listed as questionable. Anunoby hit a few early shots, but ended up playing just four minutes before he was shut down. Hart had 10 points in 36 minutes, but missed all four of his 3-point attempts. Brunson had 17 points and nine assists before fracturing his left hand in the second half.
Here are the biggest takeaways from Game 7:
A shooting performance for the ages
Here are a smattering of statistics about Indiana's legendary shooting performance in Game 7:
- The Pacers shot 67.1% from the field. That is the best field goal percentage any team has ever posted in NBA playoff history. It is six full percentage points higher than any team has ever posted in a Game 7, with the previous record belonging the 2005-06 Phoenix Suns against the Los Angeles Lakers.
- The Pacers shot 13-of-24 on 3-pointers, or roughly 54%. That is the fifth-best mark in Game 7 history among teams to attempt at least 20 3's.
- The Pacers shot 76.3% from the field in the first half. That is the best field goal percentage any playoff team has ever posted in a half during the play-by-play era, which dates back to the 1996-97 season.
- Only one Pacer shot below 50% from the field (Obi Toppin at 1-of-4). Meanwhile, as many Pacers shot 100% from the field (Andrew Nembhard went 8-of-8).
- Every Pacers starter shot at least 50% from 3-point range. As a group they shot 13-of-22 from deep. All five Pacer starters scored at least 17 points.
- Only four teams had ever scored 130 points in a Game 7 prior to Sunday. They all needed at least 38 free-throw attempts. The Pacers needed 16.
- The Pacers made 53 total field goals on Sunday. That is the second most any team has ever made in a Game 7, trailing only the 1969-70 Lakers over the Suns.
We could go on and on and on. The Knicks and Pacers had two full weeks to adjust to one another. They both threw every conceivable adjustment at their opponent. What Game 7 ultimately came down to was a shooting performance for the ages. There was just nothing the Knicks could have done in the wake of such a performance.
One injury too many
Let's take a look at the injury tally for New York in this series:
- Julius Randle and Bojan Bogdanovic never played.
- Mitchell Robinson played a bit less than 12 minutes in Game 1 before succumbing to an ankle injury.
- OG Anunoby played most of the first two games before a hamstring injury knocked him out. He played the opening minutes of Game 7, making two contested jumpers, before it became clear that he was not physically capable of continuing.
- Josh Hart suffered an abdominal strain in Game 6 that limited him in Game 7.
- Jalen Brunson missed parts of Game 2 (sore foot) and Game 7 (fractured left hand).
The only players from New York's rotation in Game 1 of this postseason not known to have suffered an injury during the playoffs were Donte DiVincenzo, Deuce McBride and Isaiah Hartenstein, who played most of the end of this season through an Achilles injury.
Injuries are a part of the game. Indiana advanced fair and square. But we need to take a moment to acknowledge just how incredible this run was for the Knicks. Despite all of those injuries and a historic shooting half from Indiana, the Knicks still managed to cut the Pacer lead down to just six in the third quarter. They were in this thing pretty much until the end despite running out of healthy bodies.
What single injury meant the most? Probably Anunoby's. He held Pascal Siakam below 20 points in Games 1 and 2. Siakam proceeded to score at least 20 in four of the next five games. The Knicks often responded by throwing doubles at him, which opened up passing lanes for everybody else. Yet the Knicks won Game 5 without Anunoby. Perhaps if Brunson and Hart were at full strength in Game 7, they could have won despite Anunoby's absence. Either way, they came closer than they had any right to considering the injuries they endured in this series.
Indiana's defense will have to be better against Boston
The Pacers played the Celtics five times in the regular season. The Celtics posted an absurd offensive rating of 126 in this five games. For reference, the Celtics just posted the best regular-season offensive rating in NBA history at 122.2 this season. When these two teams met up, Indiana stood no chance defensively.
The good news for the Pacers is that they theoretically match up well with Boston stylistically. No team attempts more 3-pointers than the Celtics. No team allows fewer 3-pointers than the Pacers. Boston has a tendency of over-relying on jumpers. If they aren't willing to get to the rim in this series, where Indiana is at its most vulnerable, maybe the Pacers can keep this thing close.
But the Pacers struggled to defend a Knicks team with one offensive star in Jalen Brunson. The Celtics have several, and Aaron Nesmith, formerly a Celtics castoff, can only guard one of them. Remember all of those possessions throughout this series in which the Pacers tried to hide Tyrese Haliburton on lesser threats? Well, in the Boston matchup, those threats are Derrick White and Jrue Holiday.
Indiana catches a bit of a break in the form of Kristaps Porzingis' injury. He'll miss the beginning of this series, and without him, the Celtics lose their middle-of-the-court cheat code. When all else fails offensively, Porzingis can shoot mid-range jumpers over anybody just to right the ship. With Al Horford in his place, the Celtics look a bit more one-dimensional. That one dimension has still been historically great this season. Indiana can't expect to face the Celtics with the same level of defensive intensity that they brought into the Knicks series and come out ahead.
