Three stars from Friday’s NBA playoffs
Indiana defended its home court for the sixth time this postseason and gave basketball fans the gift of two Game 7s on Sunday. Here are three stars from Friday night’s showdown with the Knicks in Indianapolis.
Indiana Pacers F Pascal Siakam | 25 points, two steals
Siakam was the offensive engine that drove the Pacers to their 116-103 win. Not only did he put up a team-high 25 points, but he shared the ball, dishing five assists and dissecting the Knicks defense. When the Knicks doubled Siakam, he repeatedly got his teammates open shots and huge dunks.
As a team, the Pacers had 35 assists on 49 made baskets, continually pushing the pace on the Knicks. Siakam was aggressive getting out on fast breaks after rebounds, and starting breaks himself with his seven rebounds.
But he didn’t always need his teammates’ help, either. When Siakam was isolated on the 6-foot-4 Josh Hart, he had to go into his bag of moves, but he got to the rim with regularity.
If there was any doubt that Siakam was going to sign a massive long-term extension with the Pacers this summer, Game 6 probably squashed it.
Indiana Pacers F Aaron Nesmith | Eight points, four assists
Nesmith didn’t have a spectacular scoring game, but his defense on New York’s Jalen Brunson was top-notch. One game after Brunson burned the Pacers for 44 points, Nesmith helped force Brunson into 11 straight misses and only five first-half points.
Brunson finished with 31 points, but 12 of those came in the final quarter with the game effectively out of reach. Nesmith also got help from his teammates, who did a good job of defying the Pacers’ screens and helping Nesmith stay on Brunson.
Nesmith added six boards and four assists, but it was his defense that got him a game-high plus-20.
Indiana Pacers C Myles Turner | 17 points, eight rebounds
After a dust-up with Donte DiVincenzo in Game 5, Turner and the Pacers were accused of trying to be “tough guys” by the Knicks guard. Turner played very tough in Game 6, helping the Pacers dominate the boards. He grabbed eight rebounds, blocked two shots and neutralized Isaiah Hartenstein.
He also dunked very, very hard.
Even when he got fouled.
Turner didn’t do any fighting, hard fouling or trash talking in Game 6. He just went out and won.
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