2024 NBA Playoffs: East Semifinals: #2 New York Knicks vs #6 Indiana Pacers (IND WINS 4-3)

[cgf]

I really hope that the east stays healthy next year. These playoffs have been a lot of fun, but I can't help wondering how they would have gone with a healthy Porzingis, Randle, Robinson, Antetokounmpo, Lillard, Mitchell, Allen, Haliburton, Mathurin, Embiid, & Butler.

Haliburton has the longest injury excuse for a strained hamstring I’ve ever seen in professional sports. you would have thought he tore his schit off the bone during the regular season.

If he’s out there and playing he’s healthy enough, there isn’t a player in the postseason playing at 100%

We really need to kill this narrative that Haliburton is gutting through this debilitating injury. He’s just getting exposed.

Yeah, it's weird, but injuries can react weirdly when you don't let them properly heal and keep playing when you should be resting. So it could still be bothering him, or just compensating for it for so long could have the rest of his body not feeling right and limiting him.

It's just weird to me that a guy who shot over 40% on 1400 3pa is now suddenly a 30% guy since the ASB. Like maybe teams just finally figured his weird shooting motion out and that's the real reason, but his performance dipping coincided with his injury and he didn't take enough time off for it to properly heal, so I buy him just not being 100%.

We'll find out next season, but I won't be surprised if he has a surgery as soon as the season ends, that he had been putting off...kinda like Julius last spring, who was on the court for us but looked off and we later found out why.

[Pacernation]

Just keep that same talk up when your team gets fked like that by the refs. Thanks in advance.

[gavran]

I legitimately have no idea what you're watching

Literally the video you just posted.

but Nesmith was a lot farther away from Hart than Hali was from DDV before, during, and after the pass was made.

So? That's not how rotations work.

If Nesmith is going to double after Brunson has set up where he wants to be and the Knicks are in position, Hali's on an island and has to ball watch because he's going to have to contest whoever Brunson passes to

.

See the ball, see the man. Hali was watching the ball, and nothing else, until it was too late. He didn't start running directly at Divincenzo, and had to course correct, just to be a beat too late.

That double has to come way sooner, or with three seconds left on the clock, so Hali can cheat over to DDV and the big can go out after the pass is made to Hart, and force a second pass the Knicks won't have time to convert into an attempt. That's just a bad scheme.

Hali doesn't cheat over to DDV, DDV is his man, and noone else. Brunson passes out of the double team, Hali rotates to Donte, Nesmith rotates to Hart for a contest (is needed). That is what was supposed to happen, if Hali was better at defense. Nasmith made a good recovery, and was in perfect position to contest Hart, if that was to happen.

[Capn'O]

Just keep that same talk up when your team gets fked like that by the refs. Thanks in advance.

It'll probably happen at Market Square or whatever you guys call it now. That's how home cookin' works and always has. This is what our boys beat the Celtics for in our second to last game of the season and why we won four straight to close out the sesason.

[cgf]

Just keep that same talk up when your team gets fked like that by the refs. Thanks in advance.

Totally fair...but FWIW we have been pretty good about that so far. We bitched about Embiid injuring Robinson after he should've been tossed when it happened, but we didn't keep bringing the ref mistakes that cost us wins the way some Philly fans are still complaining about the ending of game 2...except when responding to philly fans.

A couple of decades of seeing star calls going against us because we were awful kinda numbs you so I'm expecting to see a number of calls in game 4 that I have a very different opinion on than most of the other people in your arena will lol

[Gravy]

I really hope that the east stays healthy next year. These playoffs have been a lot of fun, but I can't help wondering how they would have gone with a healthy Porzingis, Randle, Robinson, Antetokounmpo, Lillard, Mitchell, Allen, Haliburton, Mathurin, Embiid, & Butler.

Knicks would be in the same exact place

[jbk1234]

I legitimately have no idea what you're watching

Literally the video you just posted.

but Nesmith was a lot farther away from Hart than Hali was from DDV before, during, and after the pass was made.

So? That's not how rotations work.

If Nesmith is going to double after Brunson has set up where he wants to be and the Knicks are in position, Hali's on an island and has to ball watch because he's going to have to contest whoever Brunson passes to

.

See the ball, see the man. Hali was watching the ball, and nothing else, until it was too late. He didn't start running directly at Divincenzo, and had to course correct, just to be a beat too late.

That double has to come way sooner, or with three seconds left on the clock, so Hali can cheat over to DDV and the big can go out after the pass is made to Hart, and force a second pass the Knicks won't have time to convert into an attempt. That's just a bad scheme.

Hali doesn't cheat over to DDV, DDV is his man, and noone else. Brunson passes out of the double team, Hali rotates to Donte, Nesmith rotates to Hart for a contest (is needed). That is what was supposed to happen, if Hali was better at defense. Nasmith made a good recovery, and was in perfect position to contest Hart, if that was to happen.

Nesmith was halfway between where he was and Hart by the time the shot went up. He had no chance at contesting Hart if that's where the pass goes. If Hali goes out further to DDV, not only is Hart wide open for the corner 3, the passing lane to get Hart the ball is completely clear.

[cgf]

I really hope that the east stays healthy next year. These playoffs have been a lot of fun, but I can't help wondering how they would have gone with a healthy Porzingis, Randle, Robinson, Antetokounmpo, Lillard, Mitchell, Allen, Haliburton, Mathurin, Embiid, & Butler.

Knicks would be in the same exact place

Only Boston wouldn't have won the east by as many games, or be as heavy favorites to win the conference.

Oh well, when we add Caruso to the party and hit the postseason healthy next year, we're just going to roll on our way back to the finals

[___Rand___]

Please don't shame a man for his OCD. He his special talents allow this forum to function.

Reading through a topic is that difficult? (It is this very topic... I didn't participate in the live topic and read through it diagonally to get a feel for how people felt about the game).

And wasting 10 seconds to search the word rigged is that complicated?

Like I said... "being a fan" apparently makes people very irrational. I will not call them "hilarious" and "pathetic" and "cringe". It just feels weird... you are on an online forum, you don't have to be super fanatics.

I did another crazy thing just now... I clicked on buttons and read a few pages on the Knicks post game. And wow... some Knicks fans are honest and chill... they joke about being gifted a W. Crazy guys. They missed the memo... you are supposed to lie to yourself and be mad at others for describing reality.

Except no team got gifted anything and there were questionable calls made against both teams. But that doesn’t fit the “big market evil, small market good, league is rigged” narrative that clowns like to run with everytime the Knicks end up winning.

But the bad calls weren't even. Bad calls were like 4 to 1 in favor of Knicks. Which determines the outcome of the game. The "kicked ball" possession itself was a 5 point swing - when the game was TIED with 39 seconds left. THAT alone determines the outcome of the game.

[Capn'O]

One team playing in a way and the other, despite all the hart in the team, playing in a not so pleasant way.

Read on Twitter

^tweet is quite harsh and exaggerated, but still kind of truthful.

I don't really take umbrage with the rest of your post as we definitely got some home cookin' that game but this is disrespectful to even include. Brunson dropped 21 points in that quarter off a pretty wild array of high degree of difficulty shots and, yes, some free throws. He was amazing and helped the team overcome a substantial deficit. Give the man his damn flowers.

[stuporman]

My heart is warmed and my mind soothed in seeing how the GB, and honestly all of social media, are fair minded and unbiased in their takes. They see all the missed calls going both ways and critique them all by giving full consideration to the impacts on the game.

The questionable Turner offensive foul is just as important as the obvious Nesmith flop on his screen. The missed kicked ball call is equal to the missed hold call before the inbound where Brunson's jersey is pulled causing him to stumble...no, not the other one called, or the other ones not called.

We know these calls are infuriating because of the inconsistency and we as fans want better from the league. We would never just see only the ones that we want to see in helping support the narrative and agenda one would want to spread because of some bias.

Now, for those of you who will respond to this post with criticisms of my take and explanations about how you really do think the calls only helped one team and not the other I can only seem to hear you agreeing with me because honestly you know you do, so don't bother replying.

I appreciate your time in reading this.

[WaltFrazier]

That’s an outragous call on the floor

It’s ‘technically’ a moving screen but those never ever get called

So a good call then.

Horrible call. NBA officials giving career journeymen these flops will continue the league's demise. Used to be a few superstars got this treatment, now with mids like Donte D and Brunson getting these calls it's become unwatchable.

So a foul isn't a foul the same for every player? Stars should be reffed differently than lesser players? Is that the league you want?

[WaltFrazier]

My heart is warmed and my mind soothed in seeing how the GB, and honestly all of social media, are fair minded and unbiased in their takes. They see all the missed calls going both ways and critique them all by giving full consideration to the impacts on the game.

The questionable Turner offensive foul is just as important as the obvious Nesmith flop on his screen. The missed kicked ball call is equal to the missed hold call before the inbound where Brunson's jersey is pulled causing him to stumble...no, not the other one called, or the other ones not called.

We know these calls are infuriating because of the inconsistency and we as fans want better from the league. We would never just see only the ones that we want to see in helping support the narrative and agenda one would want to spread because of some bias.

Now, for those of you who will respond to this post with criticisms of my take and explanations about how you really do think the calls only helped one team and not the other I can only seem to hear you agreeing with me because honestly you know you do, so don't bother replying.

I appreciate your time in reading this.

Great post that will go over the heads of Pacers fans and Knicks haters

[omerome]

Just keep that same talk up when your team gets fked like that by the refs. Thanks in advance.

Umm...the Knicks have historically been fked by the refs (and the league) for years. It's unfortunate that the game ended the way it did, but the refs haven't been known to gift calls just because they're the Knicks.

There is no conspiracy or anything that has shown that the league is pushing an agenda in favor of the Knicks because historically, I can look up how hard the NBA has either gone heavy-handed towards them (Heat/Knicks brawl in the 90s) or simply did nothing - as they should when they had the opportunity to get the #1 pick with the worst record and actually moved down several slots.

It was a game of bad calls. The refs suck. Bottom line.

[Wizop]

Just keep that same talk up when your team gets fked like that by the refs. Thanks in advance.

Umm...the Knicks have historically been fked by the refs for years. It's unfortunate that the game ended the way it did, but the refs haven't been known to gift calls just because they're the Knicks.

There is no conspiracy or anything that has shown that the league is pushing an agenda in favor of the Knicks because historically, I can look up how hard the NBA has either gone heavy-handed (Heat/Knicks brawl in the 90's) or simply did nothing - as they should when they had the opportunity to get the #1 pick with the worst record and moved down several slots.

It was a game of bad calls. The refs suck. Bottom line.

I still haven't gotten over Jess Kersey giving Gran-Ma-Ma a four point play. he did later admit he blew the call.

[Tron Carter]

Reading through a topic is that difficult? (It is this very topic... I didn't participate in the live topic and read through it diagonally to get a feel for how people felt about the game).

And wasting 10 seconds to search the word rigged is that complicated?

Like I said... "being a fan" apparently makes people very irrational. I will not call them "hilarious" and "pathetic" and "cringe". It just feels weird... you are on an online forum, you don't have to be super fanatics.

I did another crazy thing just now... I clicked on buttons and read a few pages on the Knicks post game. And wow... some Knicks fans are honest and chill... they joke about being gifted a W. Crazy guys. They missed the memo... you are supposed to lie to yourself and be mad at others for describing reality.

Except no team got gifted anything and there were questionable calls made against both teams. But that doesn’t fit the “big market evil, small market good, league is rigged” narrative that clowns like to run with everytime the Knicks end up winning.

But the bad calls weren't even. Bad calls were like 4 to 1 in favor of Knicks. Which determines the outcome of the game. The "kicked ball" possession itself was a 5 point swing - when the game was TIED with 39 seconds left. THAT alone determines the outcome of the game.

Sounds like a ratio you just made up to fit your narrative

[The KnicksFix]

That’s an outragous call on the floor

It’s ‘technically’ a moving screen but those never ever get called

So a good call then.

Horrible call. NBA officials giving career journeymen these flops will continue the league's demise. Used to be a few superstars got this treatment, now with mids like Donte D and Brunson getting these calls it's become unwatchable.

Brunson is mid? Lmaooo
If divo is mid how come he gave u 24 last night ?

[Dirk]

One team playing in a way and the other, despite all the hart in the team, playing in a not so pleasant way.

Read on Twitter

^tweet is quite harsh and exaggerated, but still kind of truthful.

I don't really take umbrage with the rest of your post as we definitely got some home cookin' that game but this is rude to even include. Brunson dropped 21 points in that quarter off a pretty wild array of high degree of difficulty shots and, yes, some free throws. He was amazing and helped the team overcome a substantial deficit. Give the man his damn flowers.

Ugh. I have already seen two very rational users ruin my week by calling me pathetic and hilarious and cringe for simply writing a "post-game" post in this topic. By you bringing up only that tweet, I run the risk of being insulted further because they will think I dislike Brunson or something. I think he is awesome, amazing and a cool cookie. It's also impressive that he started the playoffs looking very shaky and now has had this run.

As I recall, that tweet was symbolic of a certain opinion that is forming around some of the calls he gets/is fishing for (there is a post in this topic with a ton of and1s about manufacturing stars). I had the generic feeling that "neutral" fans (including myself) thought the Pacers played more eye pleasing basketball, while the other team wasn't as pretty, to say the least - so this contributed to fans feeling even more upset about the random calls at the end.

There's a breed of Knicks fan who rarely posts on the GB and when they do it is to essentially parachute into topics to be nasty to others. Bless their souls, they live under this delusional idea that "everyone hates the Knicks", when that is not the case at all. Many people happy the Knicks have done well, respecting the way they play and pretty much the entire GB rooted for them against the Sixers.

I'll finish talking about the Knicks (a minefield given the number of folks who are paranoid that the world hates them) by saying this: everyone knows what will happen if the Knicks meet the Celtics and if the Celtics win a game in controversial fashion. I highly doubt that the "questionable calls for both sides" crowd will be very rational.

[dakomish23]

Knicks got some calls in their favor. it happens. IND made some bad mistakes in crunch time. it happens.

It was still a toss up game.

This series is not going to be the cakewalk the media tried to portray it as.

[bwgood77]

While that moving screen called on Myles Turner was technically correct, I don't think a call like that is ever made at that point in the game and was definitely questionable, and very well may have changed the outcome. It's really too bad they didn't let them play and see who pulled it out in the end.