NBA Playoffs 2013: Indiana Pacers Adjust, Push New York Knicks to Brink
By Phil Watson
George Hill came up big for the Indiana Pacers in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. Hill scored 26 points in a 93-82 win over the New York Knicks. Photo: Mark Runyon, Basketball Schedule
The Indiana Pacers took a commanding 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the New York Knicks in the NBA playoffs on Tuesday, May 14, beating the Knicks 93-82 in Game 4.
Indiana won both Games 3 and 4 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis by 11 points and were able to take Game 4 because they made the necessary adjustments to the Knicks’ change in defensive strategy.
In Game 3, Pacers center Roy Hibbert absolutely eviscerated New York in the low post, scoring 24 points and gathering 12 rebounds—eight on the offensive end. The Knicks’ response for Game 4 was to double- and sometimes triple-team Hibbert.
It worked … sort of. Hibbert was limited to six points on 2-of-8 shooting. But the Pacers got 26 points from George Hill, 18 points from Paul George, 13 from Lance Stephenson and 11 off the bench from D.J. Augustin because Hibbert did what he was supposed to do.
When facing those double- and triple-teams, Hibbert kicked the ball back out of the post to open shooters or to teammates who could easily find open shooters. Hibbert only had two assists, but if basketball gave out a second assist the way hockey does, he would have had more like 10 or 15.
More importantly, though, was Hibbert’s turnover total. Big guys sometimes struggle and panic when faced with pressure in the post. Hibbert wasn’t flustered at all and didn’t turn the ball over at all in the face of New York’s aggressive defense.
Meanwhile, the Knicks continued to struggle to find the basket. A team that lived with the 3-pointer all season made just 8-of-28 attempts from deep in Game 4 and shot just 35.6 percent (31-for-87) overall.
For the series, New York is 28-for-88 (31.8 percent) from 3-point range and 135-for-328 overall (41.2 percent).
You’re not going to win a CYO game shooting that poorly, much less games in the NBA playoffs.
In fact, if you take away New York’s dominating 105-79 win in Game 2, the shooting story becomes an even darker tale for the Knicks. In Game 2, the Knicks shot 49.4 percent (44-for-89) and was 10-for-30 from deep.
That mean’s in their three losses, New York is shooting 38 percent from the floor and 31 percent from 3-point land.
In Game 4, the Knicks’ box score read like an instruction manual on brick-laying:
Carmelo Anthony: 9-for-23.
J.R. Smith: 7-for-22
Iman Shumpert, Kenyon Martin and Jason Kidd: 0-for-11 combined
Smith, in particular, has been colder than the Arctic Circle against Indiana. The Sixth Man of the Year winner is 18-for-64 (28.1 percent) in the series and has made just 6-for-26 from behind the arc (23.1 percent).
Smith readily accepts the blame for what’s happening to New York in the series:
"I take the blame for this whole series. It started off with Game 4 in Boston or Game 5. I haven’t been playing myself. I haven’t been playing my part. I’ve been letting my teammates down. I’ve been letting my coaches down."
Coach Mike Woodson decried his team’s shooting after the Game 4 loss:
Anthony can’t believe his team is unable to score:
The Knicks don’t appear to be a likely candidate to join the list of teams who have won series after falling behind 3-1 in the NBA playoffs. It’s only happened eight times in NBA history, the last being in the first round in 2006, when the Phoenix Suns roared back to beat the Los Angeles Lakers.
Here is the complete list:
1968 Eastern Division Finals: Boston Celtics over Philadelphia 76ers
1970 Western Conference Semifinals: Los Angeles Lakers over Phoenix Suns
1979 Eastern Conference Finals: Washington Bullets over San Antonio Spurs
1981 Eastern Conference Finals: Boston Celtics over Philadelphia 76ers
1995 Western Conference Semifinals: Houston Rockets over Phoenix Suns
1997 Eastern Conference Semifinals: Miami Heat over New York Knicks
2003 Eastern Conference First Round: Detroit Pistons over Orlando Magic
2006 Western Conference First Round: Phoenix Suns over Los Angeles Lakers
Nothing is out of the realm of possibility, but the New York Knicks have the look of a beaten team. That’s simply because the Indiana Pacers have made the correct adjustments while the Knicks haven’t been able to counter.