Pacers Win by Double Figures, Force Game Seven

In Game Six of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the six-seeded Indiana Pacers stormed past the two-seeded New York Knicks winning by a score of 116-103. This comes off the heels of the Knicks 30-point blowout in Game Five, so the Pacers did a very nice job at bouncing back in Friday night’s victory. The difference maker in this game was the second quarter, as Indiana outscored New York by 11 points while the other three quarters were all close. With the Yankees and Rangers being hot right now as well, the Knicks are not going to want to lose this series in New York on Sunday. 

Indiana really spread the wealth in this game with six players in double figures. Tyrese Haliburton had 15, Pascal Siakam had 25, Obi Toppin had 11, Myles Turner had 17 while Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell both added 15 as well. This is exactly what Indiana needed to do to keep up with New York in the series; have everyone contribute. The Knicks on the other hand were very sloppy. While Jalen Brunson had 31 points in the game, he only had five first-half points and shot 11 for 26 in the game. Miles McBride scored 20 and Donte DiVincenzo had 17, but this proved to be not enough for the Knicks. A huge question mark for the Knicks coming out of Game Six is the health of Josh Hart. Hart went down halfway through the second quarter and later asked coach Tom Thibodeau if he could sit down in the third. It seems to be an apparent middle-of-the-body injury.

The seriousness of this injury may haunt the Knicks come Sunday. For a team already down Julius Randle, OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson, an injury to another starter would be too much for New York to handle. At this point, it is unsure what exactly Hart’s status is going forward. The way he looked tonight, however, if he plays he’s going to play a little banged up. He seemed to struggle to make plays and grab rebounds which are a massive part of his game. The Knicks are going to need to tighten up their defense for Game Seven, and if not, it’s going to be a cakewalk for the Pacers. Nonetheless, this has been an exciting series that is going to come to an end at the world’s most famous arena.