2025 EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: #3 New York Knicks vs #4 Indiana Pacers (IND leads 2-0)

[Asian Celtic]

Enjoying the ECF, WCF not so much

[Mk0]

Concerning that you sit Towns during those critical minutes, not a good sign.

That was the right decision, he was offering NOTHING on both ends.

Mitch was at least a presence on the boards and setting good screens

That decision has the chance to go really sour with a player like Towns.

For what the Inside guys said about Randle sitting the whole 4th it really is the opposite with KAT.

I can see it motivating Randle to come out like a bat out of hell in Game 3. KAT's gonna be looking over his shoulder every time he blows a defensive rotation. Thibs is allergic to substitutions. If he is pulled he isn't coming back in. Plus he and Thibs have a history. I know they are better now but this is exactly how something ugly gets resurfaced.

[Nuntius]

Everyone stop overreacting! Yes the series is 2-0 to the Pacers but you need 4 wins to advance. The Knicks didn't play well, and still the game was extreme close until the end. A possession here a possession there goes another way and the Knicks could have won. This series is that close. Yes, it is disappointing to drop two at home, but the series is not over. The Knicks can still do it! But they need to obviously play better in future games. Mission is far from impossible.

I agree that the series is not over and that the Knicks can still win it. But I do have to ask you an honest question:

Do you still believe that the Knicks are the better team? If you want to claim they have a better collection of top-end talent, sure, no argument against that but are they the better TEAM?

On paper yes the Knicks are better, but on the court the Pacers have been the better team. Carlisle is clearly outcoaching Thibs.

Very fair response.

[Maury2423]

Concerning that you sit Towns during those critical minutes, not a good sign.

That was the right decision, he was offering NOTHING on both ends.

Mitch was at least a presence on the boards and setting good screens

That decision has the chance to go really sour with a player like Towns.

And that’s fine, imo. The guy has to put his ego in check and realize how he limits himself with his inconsistent approach to games.

I don’t know him personally so I can’t say this for a fact but I’m willing to bet that he’s surrounded by a bunch of ppl that are yes men. Right now they’re probably saying to him, “man how were you not in the game, who does Thibs think he is? YOU’RE KARL ANTHONY TOWNS!”. When he should have ppl around him calling him out for playing soft, settling for running 1 handed jumpers and 1 footed fadeaways after the first point of contact. I will give him the benefit of the doubt, he does get a bad whistle against him but it doesn’t help when you constantly settle after a little contact

[ArksNetsSince99]

It ain't over till it's over, but I don't really see a viable path for NY to win the series. I think NY really has to be struggling mentally by this point, and I don't think they can win 4/5 against this Indiana team regardless. Game three is still important I think; the quicker this series ends the better.

Tyrese needs to be better. I think this was an uncharacteristically bad game from him, but these down games are just a part of him at this point in his career. I think we can weather his bad games this series. Hopefully, he'll be good enough for the finals, assuming we get there.

Hats off to Siakam having an absolute monster of a game; he 100% saved this game. You could argue he's the best second option in the league. We'll need this version of him if we get to the finals

Gotta win two more against NY, and stay healthy. I believe in this team

What’s crazy Siakam was a first option player tonight , great game from him but besides him no one really stood up on the Pacers tonight, it was overall a mid game by the Pacers and they were still able to win on the road in Conference Finals

Excellent job by Rick Carlisle, he got this under control the whole time

I don’t get it why most Pacers fans still not feeling confident

[ArksNetsSince99]

Enjoying the ECF, WCF not so much

Exactly same feelings here

[Wingy]

IKR!??? They didn't want to give up Murray for Pascal.

Have thought multiple times these couple games. Damn it must be tough watching this as a Raps fan.

Yet I know the feeling watching Jimmy lead the Heat on their runs.

[ryan in Maine]

Haliburton with the oopsie doopsie!

[___Rand___]

Nah. As a massive NBA homer, I know the truth. NFL, average people love the game. NBA, average people love the stars.

Crazies like us will still love the OKC/Indy Finals. Should be great, but average joes won’t gaf.

NBA made a mistake going with the star promotion. They gotta market the league more.

Its a bit like pro wrestling. Stars will always be the biggest draw but there's only so much a league can do to 'create' one. They tend to spring up organically (for example, Haliburton right now). Better to promote the league/teams/sport in general to build the base, then capitalize on the stars as they come. Of course this is much easier said than done.

Basketball has its own unique qualities vs. other big sports like socccer, football, or rugby. You can market athleticism, skill, the drama and intensity of the games. You can market the team work. One thing NFL is great at explaining things despite how COMPLEX that game is, their announcers explain to the audience the intricacies of the teamwork that goes into it. Basketball isn't as complex, yet the league doesn't explain it as well for the average audience IMO. They prefer to glaze over an individual star's shot or moves instead of how much coordination it takes to make an offense work or defense work.

[Coach Carter]

Concerning that you sit Towns during those critical minutes, not a good sign.

That was the right decision, he was offering NOTHING on both ends.

Mitch was at least a presence on the boards and setting good screens

Not blaming Thibs, it's more a reflection on KAT. These are the minutes you want your starters out there, and he isn't trusted by his coach.

[redslastlaugh]

Mazzulla would sit Hali down for not feeding the guy spotting up at the line

Haliburton with the oopsie doopsie!

[collidingNeurons]

really hard to play Kat and Brunson together when the other team has players that can exploit how bad they are on defense, probably get away with one but not both

[Marrs-Law]

It ain't over till it's over, but I don't really see a viable path for NY to win the series. I think NY really has to be struggling mentally by this point, and I don't think they can win 4/5 against this Indiana team regardless. Game three is still important I think; the quicker this series ends the better.

Tyrese needs to be better. I think this was an uncharacteristically bad game from him, but these down games are just a part of him at this point in his career. I think we can weather his bad games this series. Hopefully, he'll be good enough for the finals, assuming we get there.

Hats off to Siakam having an absolute monster of a game; he 100% saved this game. You could argue he's the best second option in the league. We'll need this version of him if we get to the finals

Gotta win two more against NY, and stay healthy. I believe in this team

I’m not calling you out or coming at you sideways with this, but it’s just a common misconception people have when it comes to Haliburton.

People need to stop expecting Haliburton to score 25 a game. That isn’t how the Pacers offense works. Haliburton had 11 assists and only one turnover in a playoff conference finals game in Madison Square Garden. Sure, he didn’t shoot the best tonight, but he was getting everyone else involved, which is what the Pacers offense does. We don’t need or want Haliburton to drop 25 a game, because then we become one dimensional. We need him to step up in certain situations and he’s been insanely reliable in that regard. Despite his shot being off tonight, he drilled a big three right in Brunson’s face with the games momentum on the line.

Yea, he could have shot better, but Haliburton still had a good game. I think people underestimate how difficult having 11 assists to only one turnover actually is, especially on the road in the playoffs.

I understand you. This occurred to me in regard to Pascal actually. He went off much more than he usually does, but part of that is just simply out of necessity due to the Pacers' offense functioning extremely terrible. It's really good Siakam did that, but it would have been better if he didn't need to, because we aren't Pascal or Hali iso, and our team would not function that way.

Back to Hali. My issue is not that he didn't score 25; like you said that's not how our offense works. But he really struggled taking people off the dribble this game. For the turnover, he got locked up by Josh Hart and was obviously taken out of rhythm by that. He struggled taking Mitchell Robinson off the dribble.

Now the Pacers' run a ton of pick-in-roll, screens etc. and so maybe (probably actually) HALI ISO doesn't matter. I've only followed this game for a couple of years; you probably understand the offense better than I do. I just had the feeling watching the game that the offense struggled at specific times where the struggles could have been alleviated if Hali were a better self-creator.

[___Rand___]

IKR!??? They didn't want to give up Murray for Pascal.

Have thought multiple times these couple games. Damn it must be tough watching this as a Raps fan.

Yet I know the feeling watching Jimmy lead the Heat on their runs.

I'm over it though. We had 2 way players and defensive stars like OG. We didn't do a good enough job bringing in more skilled players to compliment those guys. Our tendency is always to find very raw guys who lack skills but have measurables. So it wasn't going to work out. Pascal is thriving in a team like Indy because Indy has a lot of skilled players - play makers, shooters, ball handlers. Which is what we got back in OG trade - scorers player makers in IQ and RJ.

[djsunyc]

NBA made a mistake going with the star promotion. They gotta market the league more.

Its a bit like pro wrestling. Stars will always be the biggest draw but there's only so much a league can do to 'create' one. They tend to spring up organically (for example, Haliburton right now). Better to promote the league/teams/sport in general to build the base, then capitalize on the stars as they come. Of course this is much easier said than done.

Basketball has its own unique qualities vs. other big sports like socccer, football, or rugby. You can market athleticism, skill, the drama and intensity of the games. You can market the team work. One thing NFL is great at explaining things despite how COMPLEX that game is, their announcers explain to the audience the intricacies of the teamwork that goes into it. Basketball isn't as complex, yet the league doesn't explain it as well for the average audience IMO. They prefer to glaze over an individual star's shot or moves instead of how much coordination it takes to make an offense work or defense work.

you have more time to explain stuff in football, you have 45 seconds before the next snap. nba is continuous action until a timeout. thereare also many variations within the same play. tough to track.

[ballzboyee]

Haliburton with the oopsie doopsie!

Haliburton really looks like Magic out there at times. Obviously, a long ways to go before he' in that conversation but he has a lot of the same characteristics as a player in terms of his ability to affect the game without scoring. Magic must be smiling watching him work. Hali proves pretty convincingly that Magic would dominate this league today.

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

It ain't over till it's over, but I don't really see a viable path for NY to win the series. I think NY really has to be struggling mentally by this point, and I don't think they can win 4/5 against this Indiana team regardless. Game three is still important I think; the quicker this series ends the better.

Tyrese needs to be better. I think this was an uncharacteristically bad game from him, but these down games are just a part of him at this point in his career. I think we can weather his bad games this series. Hopefully, he'll be good enough for the finals, assuming we get there.

Hats off to Siakam having an absolute monster of a game; he 100% saved this game. You could argue he's the best second option in the league. We'll need this version of him if we get to the finals

Gotta win two more against NY, and stay healthy. I believe in this team

I’m not calling you out or coming at you sideways with this, but it’s just a common misconception people have when it comes to Haliburton.

People need to stop expecting Haliburton to score 25 a game. That isn’t how the Pacers offense works. Haliburton had 11 assists and only one turnover in a playoff conference finals game in Madison Square Garden. Sure, he didn’t shoot the best tonight, but he was getting everyone else involved, which is what the Pacers offense does. We don’t need or want Haliburton to drop 25 a game, because then we become one dimensional. We need him to step up in certain situations and he’s been insanely reliable in that regard. Despite his shot being off tonight, he drilled a big three right in Brunson’s face with the games momentum on the line.

Yea, he could have shot better, but Haliburton still had a good game. I think people underestimate how difficult having 11 assists to only one turnover actually is, especially on the road in the playoffs.

I understand you. This occurred to me in regard to Pascal actually. He went off much more than he usually does, but part of that is just simply out of necessity due to the Pacers' offense functioning extremely terrible. It's really good Siakam did that, but it would have been better if he didn't need to, because we aren't Pascal or Hali iso, and our team would not function that way.

Back to Hali. My issue is not that he didn't score 25; like you said that's not how our offense works. But he really struggled taking people off the dribble this game. For the turnover, he got locked up by Josh Hart and was obviously taken out of rhythm by that. He struggled taking Mitchell Robinson off the dribble.

Now the Pacers' run a ton of pick-in-roll, screens etc. and so maybe (probably actually) HALI ISO doesn't matter. I've only followed this game for a couple of years; you probably understand the offense better than I do. I just had the feeling watching the game that the offense struggled at specific times where the struggles could have been alleviated if Hali were a better self-creator.

I mean, people have been saying that he isn’t a self-creator, yet in the postseason, he continues to make plays to win games. Took Giannis off the dribble to get to the basket before hitting a step back 3. Had over 30 points last game. Routinely got to the basket against the Cavs too. He can take Robinson off the dribble, thing is, Robinson is a very good defender with a tonnnnn of length. Even if you beat him, he can still block you, because that’s just who he is. Same thing we see with Turner a lot. Turner watches little guys go around him, then blocks them from behind.

Point is, when push comes to shove, Haliburton has consistently delivered when needed. I mean, the dude is what, 12-14 this season on shots to tie or take the lead with less than two minutes left? You don’t do that if you can’t create offense for yourself.

[djsunyc]

Haliburton with the oopsie doopsie!

Haliburton really looks like Magic out there at times. Obviously, a long ways to go before he' in that conversation but he has a lot of the same characteristics as a player in terms of his ability to affect the game without scoring. Magic must be smiling watching him work. Hali proves pretty convincingly that Magic would dominate this league today.

the pacers are the nash/dantoni suns fully realized.

[SweetTouch]

Carlisle is coaching circles around thibs
Just toying with him

[Im Coming Home]

Just took Brown with a torn meniscus, KP with SARs and Tatum with a torn achilles.

They were down 3-1 before Tatum went down let's not pretend now. KP sure but he barely played last playoffs either and Brown was playing like his normal self regardless.

No, it was 2-1 when Tatum went down. Brown was clearly not as explosive or as dominant on defence because of the injury. KP is still a 20 ppg regardless of if he played last year or not.

I don’t want to derail this too much. Congrats Pacers!

It was essentially 3-1. Knicks went up 9 before Tatum got hurt and had all the momentum going their way too so you can chalk that one up too. Knicks showed they were the better team before Tatum went down that's all, people attempting to retroactively discredit Knicks due to Celtics injuries, especially Tatum's look silly