Punch First, Punch Last

By: Samson Folk I @samfolkk

A reminder: Caitlin’s deep dive comes later. This is just supposed to hold you over. 

All the quotes in the lead up to this echoed a similar sentiment. Game 7’s are weird. Game 7’s require the ultimate effort. Game 7’s are special. 

The war of attrition that had slowly chipped away at the Knicks and left the Pacers unaffected, well, it brought us to a game 7 where anything can happen. Heading into game 7, every Knick except Jalen Brunson was shooting at least 40-percent from downtown. There was always a risk that the gunners could, erm, gun. We all bear witness to the random Alec Burks blowups, and the games where Donte DiVincenzo cosplays as Ray Allen – both of which happened – and the Pacers bench is more than capable of going to bat with the variance gods, but the stars have to try and squash opposing variance. 

Whether it was Pascal Siakam’s 5-5 start in the game, or Tyrese Haliburton’s rapid pursuits of open space to fuel his 3-point shooting, it was clear that they intended to set whatever tone was to come. 

The adjustments were in play – Siakam on McBride, multiple coverages on Brunson, full court press, Siakam setting & planting more screens – all that was left was for the stars to put the Pacers in a position to steal a game 7, and they did. They put their team in a comfortable position to perform. The jumpers that Aaron Nesmith & Andrew Nembhard hit to deflate an MSG crowd that wanted to pop. The brutalizing, driving, swiveling, relentless game of TJ McConnell to fuel offense. The drives that Myles Turner erased on the other end, where he tracked steps and met the Knicks at the rim. 

“You need your Batman’s, your Robin’s, but you also need your Alfred’s.” - JJ Redick, on the ESPN Broadcast 

On the other end, unfortunately, we saw the Knicks lose their Batman and one of their Robin’s. OG Anunoby stepped onto the court for a few minutes – long enough to hit a couple jumpers – but had to retire from action because of his hamstring. Later on in the game, Brunson swiped down on Haliburton, got nothing but a bony knee, and fractured his hand. 

The Knicks were one of the coolest teams of the season, to my eye, and they were completely undone by injuries. Their role players always stepped up, their stars met nearly every moment, and their 13 game playoff run was defined by a whole bunch of impressive oddities and heartbreaking injuries. They’ll be back here next season, if not going much farther. 

For the Pacers? They keep going forward. You can absolutely quibble about the injuries of the teams they faced, and many people will, but they played who was in front of them. They played who was in front of them, and they look like a better team now than when they first started these playoffs. Everything goes back to zero against the Celtics, and the Pacers try and conjure up some ECF magic.

Lock in, the Agrarian Economy of Buckets is here, and they head into Game 1 against the Celtics with the best shooting game 7 in playoff history behind them. 

Have a blessed day.