Hicks kick Knicks out of the sticks as Indiana Pacers hang on
By William Furr
The Indiana Pacers started slowly before dominating the 2nd and 3rd quarters on their way to a (much too close) victory over the tanktastic New York Knicks. The Pacers secured a 4 game season sweep over the “rival” Knicks, and have now won the last 6 matchups between the two.
After letting a tanking Knicks team claim a double digit lead in the first, the Indiana Pacers ended the half on an 18-5 run and bridged that into a dominating 48-23 run to look comfortable heading into the 4th quarter. However, in the post Oladipo life for this Pacers team, no lead is ever safe.
When the going got tough, the Pacers again tightened up and forgot how to score. The blue and gold missed 10 straight shots, allowing New York to cut the lead all the way down, but did hang on to this very important game. Oladipo or no, the Pacers have to find a way to get points in the 4th quarter. 18 4th quarter points might be enough against the Knicks of the league, but not against the monster upcoming schedule of top tier playoff teams and road games galore.
27. 103. 100. Final. 98
Both teams are happy with this outcome
The Pacers desperately needed to win this game before facing a murderer’s row coming up. The Knicks are trying to stay on the road to Zion (Williamson). With New York trotting out almost exclusively very young players, G-League callups, and retread veterans (how lonely Deandre Jordan must be), New York is playing for the draft pick. The Pacers are in a dogfight as the 3-4-5 seeds in the East are separated by just 1.5 games, and both Boston and Philly face far easier schedules. Winning this game at home should be expected, but it’s still a very good – and very important – win.
Why can’t Myles Turner or Domas Sabonis shoot free throws anymore?
Turner shot 78% last year and is at 73% this year. Sabonis shot 75% last year and is at 72% this year. How did they combine to go 5-12 for the game? This is a trend that needs to be corrected, and soon. Turner’s 3-8 shooting is especially unacceptable.
Cory Joseph’s offensive struggles continue
CoJo will always earn his keep with defense and hustle plays. He’s a very good defender of point guards, a passable defender against shooting guards, and a constant spark plug with his outside of the box score contributions, but Joseph is struggling mightily at the wrong time. Joseph is now shooting 7-23 over the last 3 games. The Pacers don’t need him to be an offensive force, but he really hurts them when he’s not providing anything at all.
A-. 16 points, 9 assists and 3 steals on 5-11 shooting. Collison hit perhaps the biggest shot of the night for the Pacers, ending a run of 10 straight misses, and finished 6-6 from line after sealing the game by making his free throws. Collison continues to perform in the face of all adversity facing the Pacers.. PG. Indiana Pacers. DARREN COLLISON
WESLEY MATTHEWS. B. Matthews had a relatively quiet game, finishing with 14 points on 4-8 shooting. Wessy Wes went only 1-5 from deep, but hit everything else, including 5-5 from the line.. SG. Indiana Pacers
A. 24 points and 4 rebounds on 9-16 shooting. Bogdanovic continues to be the offensive leader of a playoff team. Bogey is now shooting 50% from the field and 43% from deep for the year, and is going to earn himself a nice payday this offseason.. SF. Indiana Pacers. BOJAN BOGDANOVIC
B+. 10 points on 4-9 shooting, including 2-4 from deep. As always, Thad stuffed the stat sheet, adding 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Young managing to be the same heart and soul dirty job guy while suddenly being a good 3 point shooter is a wildly underrated storyline for this Pacers team. Thad also threw an awesome behind the back pass for a fast break assist that was absolutely delightful.. PF. Indiana Pacers. THADDEUS YOUNG
B-. Turner had a big night, finishing with 15 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. While he only shot 5-15 on the night, his 6 attempts from deep are incredibly encouraging. 3-8 from the free throw line is inexcusable though. Turner has got to work through this and regain his mojo from the charity stripe.. C. Indiana Pacers. MYLES TURNER
C+. 10 points and 7 rebounds is nice, but it’s clear that Sabonis isn’t back to 100% yet. 4-12 shooting and 2-4 from the line hurts. With Tyreke Evans out, Sabonis is really the only hope for the 2nd unit on offense. When he doesn’t have it, that group will inevitably struggle. It’s good to see Sabonis back in action and starting to look like himself though; get well soon, Domas. C. Indiana Pacers. DOMANTAS SABONIS
D+. 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block help offset another ugly night from the field for CoJo, who wound up 0-5. Joseph did at least make his only 2 free throws.. PG. Indiana Pacers. CORY JOSEPH
SF. Indiana Pacers. DOUG MCDERMOTT. B. Normally a game where Dougie McBuckets goes 0-2 from deep would be a clear indication that McDermott had a rough night, but against the Knicks he bolstered that 0-2 shooting from range with 4-4 shooting from inside the arc. His continued ability to get backdoor layups is astounding.
2 points and an offensive rebound in 3 minutes for Leaf. While he only got barebones leftover minutes with Sabonis back in action, Leaf continued to look like a fine NBA rotation player.. PF. Indiana Pacers. TJ LEAF. B
PG. Indiana Pacers. AARON HOLIDAY. B-. 2 points on 1-2 shooting in just 7 minutes. Holiday got some playing time with the regular rotation against the Knicks, and looked fine. Didn’t do much of note in any positive or negative sense, but competent play from a rookie point guard is automatically a bonus.
Next. Pacers offense needs a clutch hero. dark
The Pacers next game features a visit from Paul George and the 4th place Oklahoma City Thunder, at 7:00 PM