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2024 Playoff Thread: Knicks vs. Pacers, Game 5, Best of 3 Opener, which is kind of a thing

The Knicks head back to the Garden after a disastrous Game 4 performance to a tied series, and no OG for tonight, and very likely Friday night, as well.

So the Knicks’ backs are against the wall, as their defense without OG is pretty darn bad, and the Pacers have the best offense left in the playoffs, so that is not a particularly good matchup (sort of a match next to a powder keg situation). I continue to not be impressed by the Pacers’ heart, but the simple fact of the matter is that, as I said before Game 2, OG is one of just two irreplaceable Knicks, and the other one sure seems to be nursing a very bruised foot, so this isn’t great.

However, it’s now a Best of 3, and the Knicks simply need to win two of the next three. They just have to do the thing. Or, as Nike once put it, “Just do it.”

Yes, the Knicks are missing a lot of big names, but they can’t lean on excuses, they just need to lean on this weak-minded Pacers’ team instead. They just need to pull this out.

Let’s go, Knicks!

515 replies on “2024 Playoff Thread: Knicks vs. Pacers, Game 5, Best of 3 Opener, which is kind of a thing”

Sitting in Penn station. My train leaves at 745, but I keep reloading the ticket apps to see what prices are. Macris sidekick Jeremy cohen (who I met tonight) said that if I wait until sometime in the first whether, prices on Ticketmaster will plummet. Thoughts, gentlemen?

If you think of yourself as a lucky charm try everything to get a ticket, otherwise go home… 😉

LET’S GO KNICKS!

Well, Max, I turned down Frank’s offer of tickets to game 2 against Philly, and I once turned down Yankees tickets to what turned out to be David Cone’s perfect game. But I was also present for a World Series clinching game in 1995, and I was at the Mr. November game in 2001. So…?

Mostly, it’s about having to wait another hour for a train if the prices don’t get more reasonable after 745.

Alan, good record on both sides, sounds like a good omen 🙂

THIIIIIIIBS!

Official Pagliaccci Predictions:

-We are down double digits within 4 mins
-We trail wire to wire and lose by about 15
-We shoot under 40%, they shoot over 50%
-Brunson shoots under 35%
-We are outrebounded

Hope I’m dead wrong!

All is good, Raven. I’m just playing along with what I quickly peeped on this forum over the weekend. Thanks for asking.

Screw it. Just bought ticket in section 224, around midcourt. Just waiting for the StubHub seller to release it to me.

LFG, KNICKS

Alan, are you at a level of celebrity where it’s still not overly annoying to be approached by a fan? I feel like I would have to compliment you on your The Wire reviews if I happened to walk by you at Penn

Hart needs to remember that a Kobe assist is better than losing it out of bounds.

Hart needs to remember that a Kobe assist is better than giving the ball to the other team.

maybe we should draft a damn slobber in the first round like al davis taking a kicker

Van Gundy giving the Knicks shit for being completely incapable of inbounding the ball anywhere, at any time.

Worth it to buy tickets just to avoid listening to the national TV commentary

Our offense is an ordeal, nothing come easy, all the shots with the clock winding down…

If DDV and J-Hart don’t wake up we’re in deep troubles…

Yep, we’re fucked. Shocked if we ever have a lead for the rest if the series. This can’t end soon enough

Hartenstein is so money with the open floater… keep going to it!

I’m afraid I don’t really care much for TJ McConnell.

If he dies, he dies.

Deuce is totally denying Hali the ball, which is great. But apparently that means nobody is guarding TJ…

Toppin playing excellent defense? Wtf?

I literally said out loud that we never, ever saw him play transition defense like that.

Deuce Deuce though.

Well, shit, the tickets didn’t come through. Now I have to start over.

I can’t believe they haven’t been attacking Hali every trip down the court. He can’t guard!

Josh stop with the fucking turnovers. We’d be winning by 5 right now.

Things I have learned in the last minute:

TJ is definitely faster than Donte.

Deuce is definitely faster than Hali.

Our energy levels ain’t great and Pacers have hit many 3s but i think we’ll be good

There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to when Hart decides to shoot open 3s, but he should keep doing it

It’s like everyone figured out the Pacers play no defense at once

Woo, Indy falling apart right now. Let’s keep to this pressure!

When the Pacers called the last time out I thought Carlisle was unhappy they left Ihart open for a short floater. This time maybe he just wants to change the momentum.

How many timeouts do the Pacers have left? Jesus Carlisle is overreacting but I’ll take it. Fuck em

Say what you want about these shitty announcers, but they’re calling bullshit regularly against the refs on Knick fouls.

Weird to have the refs tighten up their whistles so much, given this series

This is bullshit, we should be up by 10 here.

Edit: that’s pretty flagrant

Why are the Pacers getting all these calls?!?

Because the Pacers keep crying to mommy about them

You guys won’t be laughing about The Extender when he is the next Golden Bachelor

Refs stole a crazy bucket from Precious

Yup. Thumb on the scale a couple times already.

It’s really annoying when we don’t have a large margin for error and the refs have screwed us 3 times already

You guys won’t be laughing about The Extender when he is the next Golden Bachelor

💯

We should be up more but Scott Foster and his crew gonna Scott Foster the game

we should run that stack pnr every play jalen is in, they are absolutely wandering agains it

You really do have to tip your cap to Blurps for being on ice for months and then playing pretty well in intense playoff games at the drop of a hat.

They wasted so much time these last few games trying to get the switch on Hali, it turns out that whomever Hali is guarding can just attack him. It doesn’t have to be Brunson.

Precious No-Shoe-Wa

Fred Katz reads KBlogger or Noble reads Fred’s twitter? 😀

just think about how great the thibs golden bachelor threads would be

Fred Katz reads KBlogger or Noble reads Fred’s twitter? 😀

that is not the prior art fight you want to win

Burks missed the bench, decided to go for the ejection. #dungeonisntsobad

Well it was a fun game before this eight minute stoppage we’re about to endure

Knicks getting some good rest. Let’s play Deuce 40.

Burks didn’t do anything that bad. He was just separating them.

Well, technically Stan, “back in the nineties” leaving the bench was a suspension.

Stan Van Gundy has a face for radio and a voice for silent movies.

I was hoping the refs would ruin this one. It’s why we watch the game!

Foster steeling from us every chance he can. Total cocksucker.

Foster was going to call that on brunson but let the other guy make it

Now that’s some home cookin’

EDIT: Hahaha with you bidiong

Well it kinda WAS on Brunson.

I think they valued getting out of MSG alive over getting that one right.

When I used to go to ref camps, they always said never ever make the game about you

Scott Foster obviously skipped ref camp.

I like how the refs on this play were like “well, we called a foul, but I guess we’ll just decide after the fact who it was on!”

Go back to swallowing your whistle please, we can live with some “moving screens”

I guess it’s good Scott Foster is giving the shorthanded Knicks plenty of rest but this is brutal to watch

Prediction – they will call this a double foul and have a jump ball, Indiana keeps their challenge so we can waste more time between now and the final buzzer

On the positive side, bad refereeing brings dysfunctional online communities closer together!!

gpt 5 is gonna scrape twitter and swear up and down that scott foster is the most important player in nba history

I feel stoned watching this. Like something bad keeps happening, but then we’re still in the lead, and no time seems to pass.

I have to review my annoying broadcasters list and maybe SVG goes directly to the top.

they are totally ignoring precious but luckily for us they’re not doing it deftly

That Jalen Brunson guy is pretty good when his foot isn’t hanging by a thread huh?

How can they ignore him? That last move from Precious looked like a stumbling flamingo.

That was not the same spot as the game winner on game 3, but of course the broadcast wants to talk about that.

I don’t know what’s most surprising: that Burks made both shots he took, or that he only took 2 shots.

Stan needs to get over Jeff’s time in NY or drink some damn bleach.

Is the Alec Burks trade the best trade in franchise history?

Both series – “looks like they’ve found a way to slow down Brunson”

Both series – “uh, not really”

Deuce has Hali at 1-2 for three points.

Meanwhile Brunson is 9-14 for 22 points.

Probably, you know, all those injuries…

If Brunson is back I’m confident in us for the rest of the series.

Maybe whoever steals the NBA rights from TNT can re-hire JVG; his talents are being wasted in Boston.

Burks resurgence really isn’t that perplexing. He was being used as a PG his last stint and then again when we brought him back. They finally started using him correctly again.

Brunson is going to have to play big minutes. There’s just no way without him.

From Ben Ritholtz on twitter:

Perhaps the greatest adjustment of all so far: Screen bombardment.

In the backcourt. In the frontcourt. Single screens. Stagger screens. Screens from guards. Screens from bigs.

Do not allow them to harass Jalen Brunson without punishment. Screen, screen, screen.

thibs needs to sit jalen with ihart on. his passing is crucial when we have no initiators. you cannot run a divo precious pnr unless it’s just a ploy for divo to pull

Win or lose, as Brian says, these Pacers are so weak.

Carlisle knows it. He’s used all but two time outs in the first half knowing that they will fold at any adversity.

It’s the definition of a front running team.

Deuce! The man we needed! Big Sneeze with the big block!

Dutiful corporate shills trying sell the ghoul Zaslav as a “longtime Knicks fan.”

This is sloppy as shit but an 18 point lead is an 18 point lead

I’m not sure I speak fluent Van Gundy. But I think what the Knicks are trying to say is “%^ck you, Stan.”

Going to be a lot of TJ in the second half I’m thinking.

We’re not actually capable of blowing a team out in the playoffs, right? I don’t believe it’s possible.

A little annoying that it felt like we really could’ve stepped on their throats, but I’ll take a god damn 15 point halftime lead anytime. Do it in the 3rd.

How’s that Aaron Nesmith: Brunson Stopper idea I heard so much about going?

Pacers is the team with the highest foul rate in the regular season, and yet the Knicks have half of their FT attempts. That and them shooting 60% from 3 is why the Knicks are not up 20+.

15 point lead doesn’t seem comfortable

It doesn’t but the way Indiana plays defense makes me feel good

It’s actually abusive of Carlisle to let Nembhard continue to guard Brunson.

Knicks have more offensive rebounds than Pacers have rebounds leading to 15 more shots. The energy lacking in game 4 is back

I hope Carlisle starts throwing more double teams at Brunson, we end up with layups.

Looks like Brunson wasn’t ruined by playing 31 of a possible 33 minutes last game. Phew!

Refs keeping the Pacers in this game. That was pretty awful calls going their way.

Keep up the defensive pressure and move the ball and this game is ours

Yeah the big stories here are that Brunson is healthy and we are outworking the opposition again.

Those two things stay true, we’ve got this.

Pacers fucked up by blowing us out last game. They needed to slow play it so our guys played the full 48

Who’d have thought that Home court advantage is actually an.. advantage!

Can’t wait to hear Draymond sound like an idiot.

Draymond is a fucking idiot, Brunson is not bothered by length.

See: Batum, Nicholas

Beginning of the 3rd will be so critical. Do NOT let the Pacers go on a run. If the Knicks can string a few good defensive possessions, they’ll blow them out. Carlisle won’t be able to stop the game every two minutes like he did in the first half.

We have more OReb than Indy has total reb! It’s like Indy thought they won the series after game 4.

Hali did too much chirping and now he’s being shown exactly what the hierarchy of point guards is.

Watching Achiuwa closely.
Truly don’t get the hate on him.
Guy is giving 100%, he’s Clearly not starting material but he’s bench solid as fuck

Damn, I missed the fight. Fuck the Pacers. Send their weak asses back home!

I do wish they’d let someone else bring the ball up. Brunson has to take 12 seconds to cross half court and use enormous energy. Just have Deuce or someone cross half court and hand it off to Brunson.

‘Hali did too much chirping and now he’s being shown exactly what the hierarchy of point guards is.’

Hali 2-4 for 7 pts.
Deuce 5-9 for 12 pts.

Brutal start, lead cut in half

They’re 9-14 from three..

Wake up Donte!

Not looking at the stats–75% of the 3s Myles Turner has hit in his career have been against us

What a dumb opening to the third

Maybe I should turn this back off… I could be bad luck. I’ll try it.

I was gonna say they can’t keep shooting 65% from three. Apparently I was wrong.

Shooting variance and all that, but you can’t let the guy take the same shot three possessions in a row.

Losing after that first half is gonna go great with the rest of our collection of epic collapses against this team

How you doing, Alan? Having fun?

So far it’s a blast. Especially whenever Carlisle has to call a timeout.

So far it’s a blast. Especially whenever Carlisle has to call a timeout.

Only one left for him!

That’s the way to do it! Rest players!
Not playing more bench players but just giving “food” to Foster!

I thought they may give Donte a tech for foul language.

This is why we dumped Toppin. Can’t do anything on his own, relies on Indy’s system and PGs

If someone was watching their first NBA game they’d think Scott Foster was a key player

Burks is huge here with Donte in foul trouble…

Edit: yup I jinxed him

As Brian would put it “The Refs game opener, which is not a thing”

Burks missed games at the end of the season with a shoulder injury and I remember one of the writers saying he had a bad shoulder since before the trade. Thankfully looks like he’s healthy now.

Josh Hart threw it to himself off the backboard… from the three point line

If Hart could also foul himself for the And 1, he’d really have something.

Keep the pressure to start the 4th, send them home early

LET’S GO KNICKS!

Nuggets v Wolves starts in 20 minutes… does TNT switch over for it?

Maybe they should put Turner on Brunson, the whole league knows size bothers him.

This should be a 35+ point game, but the Pacers can’t miss from 3. It’s incredible that they are up as much as they are.

Anyone still think we don’t have enough players to beat this team? 😉

Nuggets v Wolves starts in 20 minutes… does TNT switch over for it?

Nah, gotta keep the camera on the real draw here – Scott Foster at the Review Monitor.

Awesome rebounding, 40-19.

Scared to post that without a doom prediction!

How do you call that offensive foul on Brunson after he gets maimed through a whole series with so few calls.

Another incredibly dumb sequence to start the 4th, though this one courtesy of the refs

Some dude just walked into the bar wearing a Chase Utley Phillies jersey and I’m really tempted to get in a fight.

Fuck I just cost us the game! Collapse right here fueled by 455336 foul calls in the first minute

Brunson is not gonna get anymore of those calls. He must stop hunting. Where are the screens.

I love that every single person at MSG saw that travel. Best fans in the world.

Haliburton is so weird man, last game I was terrified every time he had the ball and now I actively want him to have it

Haliburton is so weird man, last game I was terrified every time he had the ball and now I actively want him to have it

The dude can’t play when he’s under significant adversity.

Every day I thank the powers that led Jalen Brunson to become a Knick.

Haliburton looks like he’s saving himself for game 6, good strategy

So many great plays, but seeing Melo grab TJ by the jersey and shake him will be up there for me.

Yeah, that was the easiest layup you will get in a playoff game and Hali was just like nah….

I’d say take Brunson out, but the Pacers would run off 10 points immediately Even though he isn’t our best defender.

Sometimes Halliburton feels like a supercharged version of Rondo who would often disappear by way of assist hunting. Different styles on play, but a similar problem.

Hali is horribly injured while Jalen just got that month in the hyperbaric chamber…

Burks becoming the Brunson release valve we had in mind, but not until being yanked from the rotation entirely and only reinserted in desperation in the middle of the playoffs, is objectively hilarious

Hali’s defense is an atrocity. My goodness. No effort whatsoever.

However we got there, it happened at exactly the right moment TNFH.

Burks made some baskets tonight, one in particular that killed a Pacers rally, kudos to him and his new shoulder 🙂

I-Hart with a monumental game, great effort.

I did not have “and then Alec Burks saved the season” on my bingo card

My sense of well-being is alarmingly coupled with the Knicks performance right now, so I’ll savor this one.

2 days off. I forgot. We’re going to be optimal Hustlebunnies for game 6.

Somebody on Dolan’s staff needs to sneak him an apology card to get Oakman back in the building for Game 3 vs the Celtics

In fairness, Hali is really banged up…but fuck his fucking smugmug!

Oh fuck that he looked pretty healthy when he was styling and profiling on Sunday

Okay, I think it’s safe to pull some guys now. We can’t risk an Alon Bruschi injury.

2 days of rest before game 6? Then i’m feeling good about my Knicks in 6 prediction! 😉

SVG going on an extended shit-talk session to take down the minutes police – I’m back on team Van Gundy!

Carlisle start putting his foul mix tape together yet…friggin’ p#ssy

I really hope the CAA thing will allow the Knicks to keep I-Hart next season. What a monster.

Shaq and Chuck “working” in NYC – perhaps they can do a piece on who this “Diakite” fellow is and how he got onto the Knicks.

Indy got a friendlier whistle than the knicks did, Brunson had 5 FTAs while the game was in doubt

We repaid the 32 beat down on Sat with a 31 point beat down tonight.

I just can’t get over how gutless this Pacers team is. It’s why I really liked the Knicks’ chances tonight (I bet on them in a parlay with the under).

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We repaid the 32 beat down on Sat with a 31 point beat down tonight.

We did it in a classy way, they made a big mistake taunting us sunday…

Stat of the night: Josh Hart 39 minutes!

I’m guessing he sits when iHart and Precious are in together but I don’t know

Indiana let Alec Burks work them over. They have already lost, no matter the ultimate result.

The Celtics sure look beatable right now, right? The Cavs were right there with them without Jaret Allen and, more importantly, Spida!

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Relentless Knicks win. What more can you say? Burks is back to 2021 Burks and praying iHart takes a discount to stay on Knicks.

Love a non-stressful ending!

This Indiana team is somehow even softer than the Cavs team we beat last season. If things aren’t going perfectly for them they just fold. If we had even just OG healthy this would have been over already.

Let’s finish them off in their court, preferably with Reggie Miller on commentary.

Someone on twitter called Haliburton “the first man in NBA history to only talk trash at home”

We’re not actually capable of blowing a team out in the playoffs, right? I don’t believe it’s possible.

Believe, Tasty! Believe!

Only point I was nervous was before Burks hit that big 3 to stop the bleeding in the second half. Otherwise the game felt completely in control from start to finish. When Burks is cromulent, you know you’re having a good night.

Phew. Needed that one.

This Indiana team is somehow even softer than the Cavs team we beat last season. If things aren’t going perfectly for them they just fold. If we had even just OG healthy this would have been over already.

100%.

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I suspect the mood on this blog is going to be a lot better tomorrow than is has been. 😜

So, if I have my math correct, the Knicks’ only blowout win of this postseason came with me in attendance. That means Knickerblogger needs to crowdsource me tickets to all of our upcoming home games this spring.

Unfortunately Alan you wished on the monkey’s paw so we’re sending you to Indianapolis for Game 6.

If we can get Alan and englishknick to every game, we’re winning the championship

Young sexy Thibs for the win

Maybe we start future game threads with “Young Sexy Thibs”?

Thibs inadvertently subtweeting Halliburton hard right now while talking about Brunson:

“a lot of times you hear about these guys’ injuries and really it’s just excuse making”

Hubert, I’ve never been to Indiana. If you want to subsidize a trip to visit Ron Swanson’s favorite steakhouses, I’m in.

Watching the Wolves-Nuggets after a Knicks blowout win is a treat. Of course, the internal damage resulting from these playoffs has probably shortened my life by 3 or 4 years.

It wasn’t the only factors but starting McBride instead of Precious seemed to make a big difference. McBride brings a tenacity that is a great replacement for OG. If you’re going to lose OG’s elite D and size and switchability, then having McBride’s insane defensive intensity is the way to go cause at least he can cause some havoc out there and his energy seems to run off on everyone. Plus he can score and he seems to relish the starting opportunities.

Hell, if nothing else we’ve gotten one game further than we did last year and we’re guaranteed that worst case scenario we get a home game to try and close it out.

The Knicks are one game away from the conference finals.

“Hubert, I’ve never been to Indiana. If you want to subsidize a trip to visit Ron Swanson’s favorite steakhouses, I’m in.”

Kind of a cute little city, My daughter had a travel volleyball tournament right in Lucas Oil Stadium a few years ago. I stayed the weekend at a vintage hotel in the main circle, was drunk much of the time, and almost got killed trying one of those lime scooters after having a couple. Had fun!

Indianappolis is not as bad as you’d think for a day or two.

I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone when I was there. You could hear a pin drop on Main Street at noon on a Friday.

I would really appreciate it if the Knicks won on Friday. My daughter’s college graduation is on Sunday and it’s a 5 1/2 hour drive home.

Indianappolis is not as bad as you’d think for a day or two.

It really is. Unfortunately, I was there for a little over two months and was totally fucking sick of it.

Congrats Z-man!
I’ve got tix to the Yankee game Friday. I’m sure to be streaming the game from there.

“Great win, now let’s use these two off days to rest and heal.”

Yes, and I hope the Knicks players get some rest and healing in, too!

The Celtics sure look beatable right now, right? The Cavs were right there with them without Jaret Allen and, more importantly, Spida!

I wouldn’t read too much into that. They’re a weirdly built team with Mitchell/Garland and Allen/Mobley so duplicative of each other that I think they’re generally better when one or two of them sit.

Hubert, I’ve never been to Indiana. If you want to subsidize a trip to visit Ron Swanson’s favorite steakhouses, I’m in.

I mean, the tickets are $77 on StubHub. The flight, the ticket, the dinner, and the overnight at Motel 6 is cheaper than a game 7 ticket. We could do Knickerblogger field trip.

(I strongly believe we’re winning game 6.)

“Hell, if nothing else we’ve gotten one game further than we did last year and we’re guaranteed that worst case scenario we get a home game to try and close it out.”

The last time we got to the three-win mark in the conference semis was in 2000. Christ.

Unfortunately, I was there for a little over two months and was totally fucking sick of it.

yeah that’s way too much

Watching the Wolves-Nuggets after a Knicks blowout win is a treat.

Isn’t it??

This feels like the male equivalent of being immersed in a bubble bath with a glass of wine and a cigarette.

Wow, Donte on the altercation with Turner:

“they’re trying to be tough guys, that’s not their identity”

Boom!

I went to Market Square Arena to see the Knicks play in 1994. That was about a month before the Pacers officially replaced the Bulls as public enemy number one. Knicks won! (Oh, and in looking up the score to that game I see that Oakley played all 48 minutes and Ewing played 43 minutes… in a late March regular season game with a 49-19 record… on the second night of a back to back on the road…)

just rewatching the 4th qtr now…the announcer (after Ihart got his 12 orebd) said “that man is going to make a ton of money this offseason”….

I was somewhat randomly watching espn in a bar in Indianapolis when PG-13 destroyed his leg

iHart was averaging 9 points and 8 rebounds a game before tonight but my he’s not getting paid agenda definitely took a blow. He had more offensive rebounds tonight than in the first 4 games combined, hopefully other GMs see the big picture.

“I went to Market Square Arena to see the Knicks play in 1994. That was about a month before the Pacers officially replaced the Bulls as public enemy number one. Knicks won! (Oh, and in looking up the score to that game I see that Oakley played all 48 minutes and Ewing played 43 minutes… in a late March regular season game with a 49-19 record… on the second night of a back to back on the road…)”

Yeah, but they were playing for that idiotic, insane lunatic Pat Riley…

Thibs adjustments were not only to set screens to free Brunson. The critical move in my view was to cut off the head of the snake by putting constant pressure on Haliburton and disrupting Indy’s offense. I was waiting to see this from game one. This Indy team is offense and only offense. If they don’t have that going, they are lost. This is what happened tonight, and this is the main reason why the Knicks dominated the boards despite being smaller. One rarely sees such lobsided rebounding in the second round of the playoffs. The Knicks grabbed 24 more rebounds (20 offensive) and put up 29 more shots than their opponent. Those stats are incredible. I-Hart had the game of his life.

Once again, this depleted team came back from the dead, they found the energy, and once again make us wonder how they do it. Brunson was their only starter at the beginning of the season. What’s next? Dress up the masseur and video coordinator to play and win playoff games?

I also forgot to mention how lost Carlisle was. Those three timeouts in the first ten minutes of the first quarter were a gem! Sleep well, Rick!

my favorite shot of carlisle was when we went up 20 or something in the third and he was clapping the “good job guys” clap like a zombie on the sidelines…that was all he had in the moment…………….loser…..

Hoping for a Max recap tomorrow. So many things went well…

And now we know, from the article earlier today. Thibs never claps.

Well, between the adrenaline of the game itself and the long trip home, I’m gonna be up a while.

If of you are on instagram, I posted a video clip on my stories from around the time of the Donte/Turner dust-up. The MSG crowd can get LOUD. My goodness!

Box scores be damned, Big Ragu brought an edge and energy to the game on defense that was contagious, even w/o making shots, thought he was a huge unsung part of the win

This Denver team is such a nothing without Jokic. Has any one player ever carried a championship team so far?

very funny NBA twitter like a week ago decided Ant was the evolutionary Jordan and Jokic was a fraud

“We got annihilated on loose balls, rebounds. Gave up 20 offensive rebounds and 29 more shots. So, we all own it,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “But very embarrassing. Very embarrassing and a hard lesson.”

very funny NBA twitter like a week ago decided Ant was the evolutionary Jordan and Jokic was a fraud

The league punditry has been repeating this about Jokic for what should have been four consecutive MVP seasons. They have no shame.

I listen to a lot of NBA podcasts these days. The league intelligentsia are generally very aware of the concept “recency bias” and yet continue to practice said bias with aplomb. The narratives shift constantly. Denver had an “easy” road last year to a chip? Minnesota clearly ready to take the leap, favorites for the titles? The Ant-Jordan stuff is kinda shameful for a dozen different reasons, and everybody knows it… but hey, it’s fun to talk about dumb basketball shit! So whatever!

BTW Twitter is poison and nobody should use it.

Games like this should hopefully remind people of why Jokic is the best player in the league and the MVP. If anything his brilliance has been understated. 40 points on 22 shots, 13 assists with no turnovers, against the DPOY… I mean what the hell.

That was a fun game. Good to see Brunson with his springyness back. I hope this puts the Nesmith can shut down Brunson nonsense to bed.

The Knicks needed this win to be decisive and it was. Now Indiana is on the ropes and going back home with their tail between their legs. Good stuff.

I said we needed to kick them in the teeth and we did exactly that. Beat them by 30 despite them shooting 44% from 3. We took 29 more shots and 8 more FTs. That shot discrepancy is insane.

Awesome!

Now let’s take game 6, get some rest, and come back with OG healthy for Boston.

This was impossible, but it happened. My confidence is restored. We will win this in 7.

Best reddit comment: “To be fair the Pacers were missing Haliburton.”

The Celtics are also soft… just saying

I mean, it’s Tatum and Brown who are soft, but they are the two most important players on the Celtics, so it’s a fair enough point. And yeah, I really do think this team can beat those dudes in the Conference Finals if the Knicks get there. Tatum and Brown just seem to always play down to the occasion, and without KP, that team just isn’t that special. They’re very much set up like the Knicks. With KP, that’s a whole other element, something the Knicks can’t match. Without KP, they are very “matchable.”

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Yeah, but they were playing for that idiotic, insane lunatic Pat Riley…

I’m sure there was somebody (perhaps even a young finance student on the Bronx campus at Fordham) who stayed up late that night typing indignant rants in an AOL chatroom about how Oakley was going to be too tired to stand come playoff time, and that Ewing’s knees (which had already been wrecked by Rick Pitino’s full court pressing) were going to explode at any second #fireriley.

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