PG: Knicks vs Indy: Game 1 ECF

[spree8]

Comfortable, kicked back, relaxed, let the foot off the gas. Whatever phrase you want to use but don’t ignore the point. There were no signs of fatigue and even then it took Indiana making ridiculous shots just to tie.

If you care about professional athletes opinions then the only ones who’s opinion really matters is the guys who actually played the game and none of them are saying they were tired but they do admit they got complacent. On to the next one

Yea you right. Should’ve known that a guy on the internet who’s never competed in the sport knows more than NBA legends who’ve been here before and won multiple rings or the guys on our team like KAT who’s complained about being exhausted during the season or Mikal who’s complained about too many minutes being tough on the body, or previous Thibs players who’ve said similar things like Jimmy Butler. That’s my bad

You are so bad at this

Bruh you never played ball FOH

[HerSports85]

9 points with 54 secs left. If you just force them to shoot freethrows or 2s, it's damn near impossible for them to complete the comeback.

Why after seeing 3 after 3, the coach doesn't say hey put them on the line and run the clock out????? They were down to 1 timeout. Terrible game management despite the mistakes and missed free throws.

That’s Monday morning quarterbacking, to be fair, nobody could predict he would hit 5 straight threes in two minutes.

I disagree. He hit 3 straight 3s before that. It's called a trend and gameplan for what was obviously their strategy of getting up as many 3s as possible. They weren't looking to take it inside at all. And obviously Nesmith was hot... I mean we didn't attempt to disrupt him from getting the ball or nothing. you could see it happening in real time.

[G_K_F]

A lot went wrong last night. I'm mad about a lot of things.

But I think the most egregious part was how we took shots early in the shotclock in the last 2-3 minutes when all we needed to do was to run out the clock (and defend the 3-point line but that's harder to control) to protect the lead.

The Pacers didn't have enough time to mount a comeback unless we shortened the time of the possessions. Worse, we traded 2s for 3s, which only swung the odds further in their favor.

KAT's layup with 40 seconds left in the game was a terrible mistake. Brunson also didn't manage the game well at all in the final minutes.

There was also some exceptional shot making on their side, it was really a perfect storm.

Again, one of my big picture concerns is that the Pacers are just a smarter basketball team.

I wouldn’t say they are a smarter basketball team. What I truly feel is that they are better at staying true to themselves. No matter what they will stick to their core principles: Screens from Turner for Tyrese, some slipping for 3s, Siakam mid range game, some nice back door cutting, getting out in transition and getting into their offensive sets very quickly off live-ball misses. Now does that mean they are smarter? I guess it’s possible because it does speak to maximizing your potential as a team, and as we’ve seen from the Knicks our play style waxes and wanes. Are they shooting threes or not, do we have a balanced offense or not, are we getting out in transition or playing like we’re stuck in the mud, are we consistently switching or are we letting old habits creep back in. Sometimes it also feels like we lose focus and dont execute on the margins. Maybe they does speak to being smarter, or at the end of the day we’re just a little flawed in areas you don’t want to be. I will tell you this, I am extremely eager to see what version of the Knicks shows up tomorrow night. A win is not only on the table, but a statement W is possible to give these Pacers something to dwell on during their flight back home.

The Pacers aren’t dwelling even if they lose tomorrow. They got what they wanted, which would be a split in NY.

Here is what will happen tomorrow: we’ll get off to a real slow start as we always do and fight back. We’ll go up 10-12 in the 4th and get shaky again and lose. That’s just how I feel. Maybe I’m wrong. But the vibes are off. Feels like the reverse Celtics series.

[K_ick_God]

Oh and just for the record, we had a 4 point OT lead when JB decides to streak in for a layup off a fast break that he doesn't need to do and that is an unusual finish for him

Add it to the list

Why wouldn’t he need to score lol. It was a goaltend too. Just confused with this logic.

I didn't know this was the goaltend so I was wrong. But it's an unusual finish for him, and besides that, the idea of scoring early when you're up by more than a possession late is very questionable. 0g did it, Brunson did it, even KAT did it. Nobody is playing according to a normal, sound plan.

[Stannis]

I still want to see KAT be more aggressive and we have the offense run through him more.

I thought OT should have been his time. Brunson was on 5 fouls and was gassed. I thought KAT had the hot hand. And he made some key plays like using his length to prevent the backcourt violations when the team was choking on inbounds

At that point in the game you’re not running plays for bigs. I know people think this is only a Thibs thing but the issue is that any teams down big is trying to force turnovers. Knicks need ball handlers late in that game. Someone besides Brunson that will come get the ball and dribble out shot-clocks. Having only one handler that can dribble in traffic makes it far too easy to trap him.

I def get this line of thinking

But Brunson was already TO prone this game and had 5 fouls. So he's risking getting fouled out if he gets over protective with the ball

The rest of the team was literally slipping and/or playing with baby oiled hands

[K_ick_God]

I'll just say the quiet part out loud: Deuce is a better, more positive player for this team than 0g at this point. All dummy Thibs is doing is playing guys who make more and who have a reputation over other guys. It's lame and typifies how he is basically not even a coach.

You could write a computer program in like 10 minutes to do what Thibs is doing.

[whocares1]

Oh and just for the record, we had a 4 point OT lead when JB decides to streak in for a layup off a fast break that he doesn't need to do and that is an unusual finish for him

Add it to the list

Why wouldn’t he need to score lol. It was a goaltend too. Just confused with this logic.

I didn't know this was the goaltend so I was wrong. But it's an unusual finish for him, and besides that, the idea of scoring early when you're up by more than a possession late is very questionable. 0g did it, Brunson did it, even KAT did it. Nobody is playing according to a normal, sound plan.

Weren’t the Knicks only up 4 with over 2 minutes left? If it was less than a 40 seconds maybe but with all that time they needed to continue to find ways to score and that was a layup.

[HerSports85]

9 points with 54 secs left. If you just force them to shoot freethrows or 2s, it's damn near impossible for them to complete the comeback.

Why after seeing 3 after 3, the coach doesn't say hey put them on the line and run the clock out????? They were down to 1 timeout. Terrible game management despite the mistakes and missed free throws.

That’s Monday morning quarterbacking, to be fair, nobody could predict he would hit 5 straight threes in two minutes.

A 43% 3 point shooter getting wide open looks in the NBA is going to convert. He's been shooting like nearly 48% in the playoffs headed into last night.

Leaving him open is an absolute failure on all avenues.

His shots weren't even hitting the rim. Just net after net.. you don't keep letting a player like that get open looks because odds are he won't hit 6 in a row. WTH

[K_ick_God]

Just by the numbers, the Pacers are not losing three straight, which is the only way this series is better than tied after four. The Knicks have more offensive and defensive talent but the situation, despite the Boston upset, is a total mess.

There is DIRECT LINE between the mess and the coaching. Direct. Don't kid yourself.

[Meat]

9 points with 54 secs left. If you just force them to shoot freethrows or 2s, it's damn near impossible for them to complete the comeback.

Why after seeing 3 after 3, the coach doesn't say hey put them on the line and run the clock out????? They were down to 1 timeout. Terrible game management despite the mistakes and missed free throws.

it really did feel like they knicks were feeling themselves too much, they didnt take the pacers seriously all game.

[rajajackal]

I'll just say the quiet part out loud: Deuce is a better, more positive player for this team than 0g at this point. All dummy Thibs is doing is playing guys who make more and who have a reputation over other guys. It's lame and typifies how he is basically not even a coach.

You could write a computer program in like 10 minutes to do what Thibs is doing.

good og is essentially a star glue guy. i want an og anunoby jersey. but last night we got maybe the worst version of him i've seen (even when we were winning). he's high up on the list of responsibility for this loss. i hope he can get it together for game 2

[MrDollarBills]

That’s Monday morning quarterbacking, to be fair, nobody could predict he would hit 5 straight threes in two minutes.

A 43% 3 point shooter getting wide open looks in the NBA is going to convert. He's been shooting like nearly 48% in the playoffs headed into last night.

Leaving him open is an absolute failure on all avenues.

His shots weren't even hitting the rim. Just net after net.. you don't keep letting a player like that get open looks because odds are he won't hit 6 in a row. WTH

He should have had a man attached to the hip with him at all times. It’s bizarre

[K_ick_God]

Why wouldn’t he need to score lol. It was a goaltend too. Just confused with this logic.

I didn't know this was the goaltend so I was wrong. But it's an unusual finish for him, and besides that, the idea of scoring early when you're up by more than a possession late is very questionable. 0g did it, Brunson did it, even KAT did it. Nobody is playing according to a normal, sound plan.

Weren’t the Knicks only up 4 with over 2 minutes left? If it was less than a 40 seconds maybe but with all that time they needed to continue to find ways to score and that was a layup.

Well if we want to get into the weeds, probably the goal tend was not called because it was a rushed shot that is out of the norm for Brunson. It was risky to take that shot ... there were over 2 minutes yes, and it should have counted so it's a bad example, I admit, regardless of the weeds.

But they blew a 15 point lead by shooting early and then did it again in OT, even if in OT it was less bad.

Doesn't matter ... look at the threads of evidence. REPEATEDLY doing the wrong thing. OVER AND OVER lol! (For those wondering, like JVG, I'm actually not mad, just being honest and frankly don't care about the team because they're basically committing sports suicide. So it's not a meltdown - just being uncensored because ... why not.)

We absolutely, 100% gave the game to the Pacers ... mathematically they had no chance. NONE.

If that's not a fireable offense, what is? It's like saying a security guard purposely disarmed the alarm around the Hope Diamond and then someone stole it but let's keep the security guard for the next time, he'll learn. It's okay, we'll forgive it and pretend it didn't happen. HUH??!!

Not 100% that simple but pretty close.

[whocares1]

I didn't know this was the goaltend so I was wrong. But it's an unusual finish for him, and besides that, the idea of scoring early when you're up by more than a possession late is very questionable. 0g did it, Brunson did it, even KAT did it. Nobody is playing according to a normal, sound plan.

Weren’t the Knicks only up 4 with over 2 minutes left? If it was less than a 40 seconds maybe but with all that time they needed to continue to find ways to score and that was a layup.

Well if we want to get into the weeds, probably the goal tend was not called because it was a rushed shot that is out of the norm for Brunson. It was risky to take that shot ... there were over 2 minutes yes, and it should have counted so it's a bad example, I admit, regardless of the weeds.

But they blew a 15 point lead by shooting early and then did it again in OT, even if in OT it was less bad.

Doesn't matter ... look at the threads of evidence. We absolutely, 100% gave the game to the Pacers ... mathematically they had no chance. NONE.

If that's not a fireable offense, what is? It's like saying a security guard purposely disarmed the alarm around the Hope Diamond and then someone stole it but let's keep the security guard for the next time, he'll learn.

Not 100% that simple but pretty close.

It’s not a fireable offense unless it was game 7. The guys missed their free throws late in that game. That isn’t on Thibs. OG has no hands…and that isn’t on Thibs. Brunson doesn’t have a secondary playmaker late in games, that could partially be on Thibs but the roster just doesn’t have two reliable guys that can dribble out the shot clock to end games.

It’s not like Brunson isn’t trying to run down the clock but that’s when Pacers try to trap him. We need another guy that can take the pressure off him late in games.

[K_ick_God]

Weren’t the Knicks only up 4 with over 2 minutes left? If it was less than a 40 seconds maybe but with all that time they needed to continue to find ways to score and that was a layup.

Well if we want to get into the weeds, probably the goal tend was not called because it was a rushed shot that is out of the norm for Brunson. It was risky to take that shot ... there were over 2 minutes yes, and it should have counted so it's a bad example, I admit, regardless of the weeds.

But they blew a 15 point lead by shooting early and then did it again in OT, even if in OT it was less bad.

Doesn't matter ... look at the threads of evidence. We absolutely, 100% gave the game to the Pacers ... mathematically they had no chance. NONE.

If that's not a fireable offense, what is? It's like saying a security guard purposely disarmed the alarm around the Hope Diamond and then someone stole it but let's keep the security guard for the next time, he'll learn.

Not 100% that simple but pretty close.

It’s not a fireable offense unless it was game 7. The guys missed their free throws late in that game. That isn’t on Thibs. OG has no hands…and that isn’t on Thibs. Brunson doesn’t have a secondary playmaker late in games, that could partially be on Thibs but the roster just doesn’t have two guys that can dribble out the shot clock.

It’s not like Brunson isn’t trying to run down the clock but that’s when Pacers try to trap him. We need another guy that can take the pressure off him late in games.

I vehemently disagree. It is a fireable offense right now.

[Laertes]

Anybody else lose sleep last night?

Dude, the match started at 2.00 a.m. here where I am. Finished at 5.20. I haven't slept since.

[SpreeNYK]

I am still shocked and feel depressed...

[HEZI]

Yea you right. Should’ve known that a guy on the internet who’s never competed in the sport knows more than NBA legends who’ve been here before and won multiple rings or the guys on our team like KAT who’s complained about being exhausted during the season or Mikal who’s complained about too many minutes being tough on the body, or previous Thibs players who’ve said similar things like Jimmy Butler. That’s my bad

You are so bad at this

Bruh you never played ball FOH

Sounds like a kid that lost a lot because he was/is out of shape

[K_ick_God]

BTW that was not a choke. A choke you could live with. Not a coach's fault and you can grow past it.

This was mismanagement and incompetence. That is systemic and can't be changed without a change in how the team is being managed.

[spree8]

You are so bad at this

Bruh you never played ball FOH

Sounds like a kid that lost a lot because he was/is out of shape

lol and I’m bad at this?