Knicks lose to the Pacers, after the game reveals: Non-Towns, real heroes quietly emerge

On May 30, the NBA Eastern Conference Finals ushered in the highly anticipated fifth leg competition. The Knicks are at home to face the Pacers who are coming to challenge. After a fierce competition, the Knicks finally defeated the Pacers with a score of 111-94, tying the total score to 2-3, still retaining the slight hope of reversal. During the regular season, the Knicks advanced to the playoffs with the third place in the East, and successively knocked the Pistons and defending champion Celtics down, showing their outstanding competitive state and strength. However, facing the slightly lower-ranked Pacers, the Knicks unexpectedly lost two consecutive games at home and fell into a desperate situation of 1-3. At this time, they had no way out. They could only win three consecutive games in the next game to achieve the feat of advancing to the finals. The arduousness of this task can be imagined.

Looking back on the first four games, the score gap between the Knicks and the Pacers was very weak. Compared with the frequent big wins in the Western Conference Finals, this undoubtedly shows that the strength between the two teams is indeed quite close. However, the Pacers showed a more stable competitive state, while the Knicks were a little weak at the critical moment and lacked enough stable scoring points. The battle of

G5 is undoubtedly a life-and-death battle for the Knicks. Main players and core players such as Brunson must stand up and lead the team to win at home. Otherwise, once they lose again, they will lose three consecutive home games, which will undoubtedly make it difficult for fans to accept. At the beginning of the game, the Pacers performed poorly for a long time, but in the last few minutes of the first quarter, they gradually narrowed the gap and fell behind the Knicks by just 4 points. However, after entering the second quarter, the Pacers still lacked a strong explosive point, while the Knicks gradually widened the gap under the leadership of Towns. After halftime, the Pacers were already 11 points behind. Although the score difference was not particularly large, their performance was worrying.

In the first half, the Pacers scored in double digits and their three-point shooting percentage was only 38.9%. Among them, Halliburton made 0 of 3 shots and scored 4 points with only free throws, which was obviously in poor form. In addition, Nesmith and others' performance was not satisfactory. If the second half cannot adjust its state in time, the Pacers may fall into a more passive situation.

The Knicks continued to gain an advantage in the third quarter, and once expanded their lead to 20 points. After the third quarter, the Knicks led the Pacers by 17 points. At this time, Thibodeau had already rotated 10 people, and the Knicks seemed to be at ease in terms of personnel rotation and team advantages.

Entering the fourth quarter, the Knicks played steadily and continuously consolidated their lead, but ultimately failed to give the Pacers a major reversal. They finally ushered in a refreshing victory when they fought at home. Post-match data shows that Brunson, who has the highest score in the game, is undoubtedly the biggest contributor to the Knicks' victory. He scored 32 points alone, while Towns contributed 20 points.