Pacers say they didn’t play their way in Game 3 loss to Knicks
INDIANAPOLIS — After the Indiana Pacers blew a 20-point first-half lead — and chance for a 3-0 advantage in the Eastern Conference finals — with their 106-100 loss to the New York Knicks at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Sunday night, All-NBA guard Tyrese Haliburton blamed himself for his team’s struggles on offense in the second half.
“Just trying to get guys in the right positions,” Haliburton said when asked why he in particular, and Indiana overall, slowed down from their usual up-tempo style in the second half. “I think down the stretch, a game like this comes down to one or two possessions, so just trying to execute the right way, get guys in the right spots. But yeah, it’s definitely an area where I know when I watch film, I’m going to kick myself for it.
“I’m already thinking about it, kicking myself for it … I think that’s just part of it and I got to be better there. Honestly, I think a lot of our offensive struggles in the second half were due to me, so I got to be better there and I will be better in Game 4.”
Haliburton’s individual line was respectable — 20 points, 7 assists and 3 steals in 37 minutes — but the high-octane Pacers, who came into this game as the only team in these playoffs shooting 50% overall from the floor and 40% from 3-point range, shot 44% overall, went 5-for-25 from 3-point range and scored only 42 points in the second half.
In fact, Indiana’s 20 points in the fourth quarter was the same amount that Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns had by himself in that final quarter.
That’s why when Haliburton, forward Pascal Siakam and coach Rick Carlisle each spoke individually after the game, they came back to the same theme: that Indiana let a golden opportunity slip through its fingers by getting away from what makes the Pacers who they are.
“We got to stay playing our way,” said Siakam, who followed up his sensational 39-point outburst in Game 2 with 17 points in this one but was a team-worst -21, “and we just didn’t.”
This isn’t the first time in these playoffs the Pacers failed to take advantage of being up 2-0 in a series having won both games on the road. It was the same situation the Pacers found themselves in against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. In that Game 3, Indiana was blown out by Cleveland, only to bounce back and win Games 4 and 5 to advance to the conference finals for a second consecutive season.
This time around, it was Indiana that looked like it would be the team doing the blowing out, when the Pacers raced out to that 20-point lead and the Knicks watched Jalen Brunson pick up four fouls in the first half and Towns pick up three.
But things began to turn midway through the third, when Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith sprained his right ankle and had to leave the game. Indiana led by 13 at the time, and by the time Nesmith checked back in in the fourth, the Knicks had gone on a 32-18 run over an 11-minute stretch to surge back into the lead.
“Yeah, it’s certainly a factor,” Carlisle said of Nesmith’s injury. “He went back to the training room, got it looked at, believe he got it re-taped. He was doing things in the hallway to get moving again. And then I got the word that he was good to go back in, that he was moving without limitation at that point in time. And so rather than wait, the best thing to do is get him back in there so that you know he didn’t stiffen up anymore. And then, you know, down the stretch he seemed to move okay to me just from the eye test standing there, but I haven’t studied the film yet and obviously we’ll know more tomorrow.”
Nesmith walked through the locker room after the game under his own power, but with a noticeable limp.
And while this game was a painful one for the Pacers to let slip away, they still hold a 2-1 lead in the series. And when these teams reconvene Tuesday night for Game 4, Haliburton said we’ll see a different mentality from Indiana.
“We feel like offensively, we’ve had a great series thus far,” Haliburton said. “I would say that was our first real like bad half offensively, so we got to be better there. And then defensively, you hold a team like that to 106, that’s — you should win that game. So we gotta, I mean, 100 points isn’t us, you know? So kudos to them, they did a good job, but there’s definitely areas that we can improve on.
“We’ll have a great film session [Monday]. Guys will watch film on their own tonight and tomorrow, and see where we can get better. There’s one day in between games, so it is what it is. You watch film, then you just flush it and get ready for Game 4.”
Source: espn.com