The Knicks Must Stay Healthy in Order to Win Series Against the Pacers
On Monday night, the New York Knicks defeated the Indiana Pacers at home during Game One of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Pacers, particularly Tyrese Haliburton knew he had to step up in this game after only taking six field goal attempts in the Game One loss. Although the Knicks had some injury concerns during this game with Jalen Brunson sitting out for over a quarter, and OG Anunoby being taken out for the rest of the game after getting hurt a little past the midway point of the third quarter, New York won Game Two 130-121. Indiana made sure to keep this game interesting, as they held a 10-point lead going into halftime, however a huge third quarter by New York and the Knicks rebounding gave them the advantage to take another spectacular win in front of the hometown crowd.
With three minutes left in the first quarter, Brunson bumped into Pacers Andrew Nembhard. Brunson was clearly in pain after this. What seemed to be a lower-body injury was actually a sore left foot. The Knicks star sat for about 15 and a half minutes. During the great second-half run by the Knicks, Anunoby eventually returned to the locker room with a sore left hamstring. New York has dealt with numerous injuries through this great season, and yet they have found a way to get the job done and bring home the win. However, this Knicks team must stay healthy if they want to get past the Pacers and move on to the Eastern Conference Finals. New York has Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson out for the rest of the playoffs. Coach Tom Thibodeau has only run a rotation of seven guys through these playoffs. Josh Hart has played in all 48 minutes in three games in a row. Although most of these guys are playing most of if not the entire game, this team must find a way to push through and get to the next series, which would give them a couple of days of rest.
Jalen Brunson finished this game leading the Knicks with 29 points. He also recorded two rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Donte DiVincenzo and OG Anunoby dropped 28 points apiece, while Josh Hart had 19 points, and 15 rebounds in the win. Tyrese Haliburton led all scorers with 34 points, in addition to six rebounds, nine assists, and three steals. Obi Toppin scored 20 points in 20 minutes off the bench during the loss.
