INDIANAPOLIS — Can they do it again?
Can the Knicks build off their best defensive performance of the postseason with a similar effort?
That’s the question for Saturday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse as Tom Thibodeau’s team looks to extend the Eastern Conference finals to a Game 7 back at the Garden on Monday.
For the first time in this hard-fought series, they shut down the Pacers and Tyrese Haliburton, leading wire-to-wire in the one-sided Game 5 victory at MSG. Haliburton, coming off a 32-point, 15-assist, 12-rebound triple-double, was out of sorts. Mikal Bridges was all over him.
There were no opportunities for him to taunt the Garden faithful, as he did in Game 1 with the Reggie Miller choke sign.
Haliburton attempted just seven shots and was held to eight points and six assists — series lows for him. There were large stretches that he wasn’t really involved in the Pacers offense. The result was Indiana’s lowest point total since Feb. 4.
That figures to change Saturday night. Expect a more aggressive and forceful player.
“I got to be better and I’ll be better in Game 6,” said Haliburton, who is averaging 21 points and 10 assists in the series while shooting 44 percent from the field. “They just did a good job applying pressure. Just did a better job defensively than they did last game switching things up. We saw some blitzes, [Jalen] Brunson’s shows [on screens] were a little harder, they switched more down the line. They mixed things up as the game went on.”
Thibodeau and the Knicks deserve credit.
They were active, connected and pressured Haliburton more in the backcourt. He had fewer opportunities off the pick-and-roll.
The Knicks talked to each other more, something they said was missing in Game 4.
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They never let Haliburton find an offensive rhythm.
“Just picking him up, trying to be physical with him. ‘[Bridges] did a great job. We’re asking a lot from ’Kal,” Josh Hart said. “He’s picking him up, running around with him. Tyrese is someone who never really stops moving.
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“’Kal did a great job today trying to be physical, trying to be on his body and not give him anything easy. I think we didn’t have any plays where we had a miscommunication or left him open for 3, which I feel like we did a couple times last game.”
It’s not a coincidence that in the Knicks’ two wins in this series, they have held Indiana’s explosive offense down. The Pacers scored 100 points in Game 3 and 94 in Game 5 — their two lowest point totals of the playoffs. The Knicks controlled tempo in the second half of Game 3 — they rallied from 20 points down in that contest — and most of Game 5.
When the Pacers score 110 points or more, they are a perfect 10-0 in the playoffs. Less than that, and they are winless at 0-4. The Knicks, of course, have held Indiana, which last lost consecutive games in early March, down now twice in five games.
Now, they have to replicate those defensive efforts. They need to defend.
They need to contain Haliburton. Game 5 provided the Knicks a blueprint for forcing a Game 7.
“I think in this series, we haven’t lacked scoring. It’s about us not stopping them from scoring,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “I thought we did a great job [Thursday] of upping the pressure and making it more difficult for them to get those open looks and get those shots that they got comfortable last game with.
“It’s a testament to our team answering the call. I think [Thursday] we did that. But we are going to have to be even better next game if we want our season to continue.”