A historical reversal! From Nesmith to Harry s throat!

Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals: Pacers 138-135 Knicks

Summarize this game in a simple sentence: I didn’t watch this game, and the whole season is vain.

Pacers were once behind by 14 points in the fourth quarter, relying on Halliburton, possessed by Nesmith and Reggie Miller, who played strongly, and finally defeated the New York Knicks, who played at home 138-135 in overtime, and took the lead in the seven-game four-win series.

Looking back at this game, the Pacers were full of momentum in the opening stage, and all of the first 9 shots were hit. However, they were unable to rely on this momentum to take away the game. Instead, their own whirlwind was dragged into the opponent's rhythm by the Knicks. Thibodeau defended more from the outside, causing the Pacers to fall into the offensive quagmire.

In particular, the distribution of ball rights is too dependent on Halliburton's singles to create opportunities, and the team's conversion offense and no-ball support are also obviously affected by the high pressure of Madison's home atmosphere, and the game situation is gradually pulled away by the opponent.

However, when the game entered the second half, the Pacers gradually began to regain the team's offensive rhythm. Head coach Carlisle is obviously consciously adjusting the offensive center of gravity, constantly creating more open opportunities through more frequent screen changes and perimeter rotations.

In addition, the Pacers have also begun to more clearly target the Knicks' two core cores, Brunson and Towns, frequently passing covers to make defense misalignment. Whether Halliburton, Nembhard, or even McConnell, they can implement such a tactic. In addition to consuming the Knicks' physical strength inside and outside the Knicks, this move also makes them both suffer from foul trouble early.

McConnell deceived Brunson at the basket at the beginning of the fourth quarter, causing his opponent's fifth foul in this game. At this time, there were still 10 minutes before the regular time of the game ended. He thought that the Pacers' counterattack would be a great opportunity after the core was affected by the foul, but unexpectedly, the Knicks' climax was next, and they made consecutive breakthroughs in long shots, and the Pacers were once widened by 14 points.

However, Nesmith's outbreak in the second half of the fourth quarter completely ignited the Pacers' counterattack signal. Starting from a bottom corner three-pointer, he made five consecutive three-pointers from the outside, causing the Knicks, who was originally sure to win, to fall into a defensive collapse in an instant.

Relying on six out of six in the fourth quarter, Nesmith became one of the sixth players in the history of the playoffs to hit six three-pointers in a single quarter, and the other five are Curry, Pogdanovic, Booker, Lillard and Michael Porter Jr., but to be the most special thing, Nesmith is the only player to achieve this achievement in the fourth quarter of the playoffs.

It was precisely based on his perfect shot of fire on the outside that Halliburton's magic moment came to the next.

At the critical moment, Halliburton faced the pressure of countdown time. He dribbled through the penalty area and did not get out of his phone and would take the three-point line again. The perfect arc hit the front edge of the basket, and the basketball bounced high and then entered the net. With Halliburton making a lightning strike-Miller's legendary choking action as the end of the game, the two teams entered overtime because they only scored two points. Even if it is not a final goal, this goal has laid a turning point for the final victory of the game.

Both sides were punched in overtime. Brunson, who scored 43 points in the whole game, did not intend to give up defending the home court, but because he was still limited by five fouls, Nembhard, who was almost on the quarrel in the fourth quarter, stepped forward at the last moment, broke through and scored stably. With Obie Topin, who had no room for playing in the Knicks, relied on a dunk to help the Pacers lead three-pointer, the game was basically concluded.

Following the whole game, facing the Pacers' generals, Brunson and Towns, the two core players, worked together to score 78 points. When the referee was strict about the judgment, he could only try his best to oppress his opponent, try to use the front-line defenders to match, and then use double-team rotation to limit Brunson's mobile phone opportunities, but the opponent is naturally difficult to completely limit as the star.

Carlisle chose to put Nembhard, who was carrying five fouls, on the bench, allowing Nembhard, who was in hot hands, to retreat to the second line, and chose second-year freshman Shebbod to defend Brunson. Although the defensive effect was a little lacking, it also laid an opportunity for the two main players to retain their energy and shine at critical moments.

It is worth mentioning that a controversial goal was in the last moment of the game. The referee originally decided that Siakam had fouled Anunobi, but the penalty was overturned after the challenge. The ball rights were changed to the Pacers, allowing them to tie the score in the final stage.

Then Nesmith's steal and Brunson touched the ball out of bounds. The referee originally determined that the Knicks' ball was right. After Nesmith's excited reaction, Carlisle immediately challenged and successfully got the ball.

Post-match summary:

is happy to win the first game of the series, but we cannot expect Smith to be possessed by the three-pointer in every game, nor can we expect the Knicks to have a bad free throw in every game. Brunson and Towns were two key offensive points, and even Mitchell Robinson, who started from the bench, was not able to be very limited in this game.

This is also what the Pacers need to pay attention to in the subsequent games. I still hope to take advantage of this reversal momentum, and each game in the next game will be exciting enough to contribute a beautiful enough visual feast to the fans.