New York Knicks Overcome Injuries To Win Game 2 vs. Indiana Pacers

The mantra for the New York Knicks throughout the 2023-24 NBA season has been next man up. It is what they used when Julius Randle went down with a season-ending injury and have continued living by in the postseason.

In Game 2 against the Indiana Pacers in their Eastern Conference semifinal, the New York Knicks’ injury list grew. With Bojan Bogdanovic and Mitchell Robinson joining Randle sidelined for the remainder of the postseason, the team suffered another injury scare Wednesday night.

With about three minutes in the first quarter, Jalen Brunson asked out of the game. He went to the locker room where he stayed for the remainder of the first half. With him sidelined the Pacers took full advantage, taking a 10-point advantage into halftime.

On the anniversary of Willis Reed coming out of the tunnel in the NBA Finals 54 years ago, Brunson had his own version in Game 2. Despite being visibility hampered by his foot injury, Brunson’s presence was enough to get his teammates and the crowd going into a frenzy.

Used as a decoy at times, Brunson erupted when the team needed him most. He finished with a team-high 29 points, scoring 24 of them in the second half despite missing more than a quarter of game time. Brunson didn’t sit the entire second half, and all of his production was needed.

That wasn’t the only injury that the Knicks had to navigate. With about four minutes remaining in the third quarter, OG Anunoby came up grabbing his hamstring. He went to the locker room and was immediately ruled out, which was a huge blow to the team.

Anunoby had 28 points with four rebounds and three assists, making a major impact on both ends of the floor. With him sidelined, the next man up in the frontcourt was Precious Achiuwa, who had timely rebounds and defensive stops after settling into the game.

Josh Hart didn’t sit the entire game and stuffed the stat sheet again, scoring 19 points with 15 rebounds, seven assists, one steal and one block. Isaiah Hartenstein nearly triple-doubled, scoring 14 points with 12 rebounds and eight assists. Credit needs to be given to Donte DiVincenzo as well, who had timely baskets once again en route to 28 points, including six 3-pointers.

It was the same story for the Pacers in Game 2 as it was in Game 1. Their bench produced at a very high level but the starters were unable to sustain that level of production. Head coach Rick Carlisle could regret sitting TJ McConnell down the stretch in both games as he has gotten the job done whenever he was on the court.

The result was the same, as the Knicks won 130-121. The series will now shift to Indianapolis for Games 3 and 4. With a 2-0 series lead, the New York Knicks have control but the injury situations could certainly swing things in the Pacers’ favor with how hampered New York is.