The New York Knicks were no match for the Indiana Pacers. It was eerily similar to the Western Conference Semifinals in that the series was over before it started. They just blew Game 1 instead of getting blown out, which OKC could easily do to Indiana, too.
Pacers Perpetually Wide Open
It took one pass for the Pacers to get an open look against New York, and another pass led to another open look, and another. It seemed like the Pacers passed up more open looks than the Knicks had in Game 6. So how many wide open looks did the Pacers get in the series?
The Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton, Aaron Nesmith, Myles Turner, Pascal Siakam, Andrew Nembhard, and Obi Toppin all got more than 15 wide open looks against the Knicks in this series. Five of those six players hit more than 50 percent of those wide open shots, and half of those players shot better than 75 percent.
NBA.com
That’s entirely too many wide open looks to allow and expect to win a seven-game series. Afterward, New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said his team finished in the top-3. No you didn’t, Tom. You played in the Eastern Conference. The Timberwolves could have shot as well as they did against OKC on wide open shots and beat you.
Knicks’ Turnovers and Bad Transition Defense
New York’s 18 turnovers led to 34 Pacer points in Game 6. Indiana has been better than the Thunder at converting turnovers into transition points this postseason. Siakam has actually been better than MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in transition in these playoffs. Much of that is due to the team they played in New York.
Tom Haberstroh informed that the Knicks were the “second-worst defense in the conference finals since NBA lineup tracking began in 2008.” Stan Van Gundy said the lack of New York’s transition defense cost them all series. Karl-Anthony Towns was often the man with the shortest path to defend the basket in transition, and New York needed someone from farther away to cover for him in transition. That’s what you get when your best three-point shooter is seven feet tall and has cement in his shoes.
Van Gundy was also critical of how far Towns dropped back when defending pick-and-rolls. KAT finally defended the pick-and-roll correctly with three minutes left in the series. This is why the Timberwolves won that trade. KAT is the cancer that torpedos your season when it matters most, we’ve been saying that round here for a long time. Minnesota just traded cancer for COVID.
NBA Finals Gonna be a Turnover Track Meet
The Pacers have also been the best transition defense in these playoffs, averaging less than a point per play allowed. That’ll help when the go up against Turnover City. OKC has been the second-best team at converting turnovers into points this postseason and leads the league in steals.
Indiana’s pace will earn back possessions stolen by the Thunder, but the depth of both teams will make for incredible pace. In fact, the pace in this series might set an NBA Finals record for possessions. We’re very lucky to end up with two teams playing breakneck basketball in the finals. Small markets be damned. This is gonna be fun.
