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The outcome of Game 3 was not what the New York Knicks had hoped for. The Knicks finished Friday night with a 111-106 loss despite grinding it out in front of a boisterous Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd against the Indiana Pacers.
The Pacers played like a team with their backs to the wall the entire game, making it a scrap. Indiana was behind 2-0 heading into Game 3. The basketball community therefore anticipated that both sides would fight to the very end, knowing what was at risk, and boy did the predictions come true. The Knicks scored the first basket right away, but from then on it was all Indiana. Tyrese Haliburton’s back-to-back three-pointers put the Pacers ahead early, forcing New York to play catch-up for the duration of the first quarter.
The second period was more of a back-and-forth exchange. Twice, the Knicks were able to close the gap and take the lead. Alec Burks, who was a key player off the bench for New York, was primarily to blame for this. The Pacers held a five-point lead at the half.
The Knicks would go on a run that continued into the fourth quarter with two minutes remaining in the third quarter. The squad was ahead by a comfortable nine points at 9:46 in the fourth. But it would not endure. With less than seven minutes left, the Pacers were suddenly deadlocked at 99 all as they continued to chip away at the lead behind Haliburton.
With 54 seconds remaining, the Knicks trailed 106-103 after both teams exchanged buckets. Even while Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard eventually broke the hearts of television fans in the Big Apple, it was Jalen Brunson who tied the game with a step-back three-pointer. Nembhard would seal the victory for Indiana with a step-back triple of his own, leaving the Knicks unable to respond in the final seconds.
Moving on, it’s now time to discuss the factors that contributed to New York’s loss.
Injuries, resulting in a lack of frontcourt depth
The Knicks didn’t have many key players heading into the game. Besides Julius Randle, who’s been out for months, New York was without OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanovic.
Bogdanovic last played in the first round against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Croatian forward is set to undergo season-ending surgeries on his left foot and wrist.
Robinson, who had surgery to fix his left ankle, had a stress injury. He played in the first game, but missed the final two. Anunoby, who missed his first postseason game on Friday, is another. The forward, a vital first-team member for New York, is sidelined with a hamstring issue.
To put it briefly, the team’s front line is worn thin. The starting lineup for the frontcourt was Josh Hart, Precious Achiuwa, and Isaiah Hartenstein because Anunoby and Robinson were injured. There was definitely work involved. Hart grabbed eighteen rebounds, continuing his incredible play on the boards this postseason.
Hartenstein and Achiuwa both contributed energy, pulling down four offensive rebounds apiece. Nevertheless, the Knicks gave up nine offensive rebounds to Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam combined for the Pacers. Turner’s offensive boards came in three times during the fourth quarter.
Not being able to make money in the fourth quarter Regarding fourth quarters, that presented another issue in this match. While they may have performed admirably in the last moments of the first two encounters, New York did not do so on Friday.
As previously stated, with about ten minutes left, the Knicks led by nine points, but they allowed Tyrese Haliburton to launch a run that soon closed the gap. Between 9:45 and 3:54 in the fourth, New York managed just one point. Conversely, the Pacers scored 11 points throughout that time.
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