The Knicks entered the game with a reduced starting lineup, but as a side effect they completely dominated the boards.
Backup guard Miles McBride replaced the injured Precious Achiuwa in the starting five, with Isaiah Hartenstein, Josh Hart and the Knicks outrebounding the Pacers in an astonishing 27-11 first half. , and achieved their third win overall with a score of 53-29. -2 lead in the second round of the playoff series on Tuesday night at the Garden.
Hartenstein, who suffered a pinched nerve in his left shoulder in Game 4, grabbed 12 offensive rebounds in the 121-91 rout, giving the Knicks a commanding 20-5 advantage in that category.
After their last loss, he said the Knicks weren’t living up to their hard-working identity and needed to “get back to that identity” to return to MSG.
“I was physical. I think in the game at Indiana, I didn’t play like myself and it wasn’t physical,” Hartenstein said. “I was letting them play the way I played, so just joining, that was what I wanted to do the most.
“Nobody was proud of what they did in Indiana and we were kind of in the mud, but still, that doesn’t happen, so we just stuck together. We We wanted to be more physical. We wanted to play Knicks basketball, but I think we got back to it.”
On Tuesday night, the Knicks were again without four frontcourt rotation players. Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanovic are all out for the season, and starting forward OG Anunoby missed his third straight game with a hamstring injury.
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Still, coach Tom Thibodeau replaced the 6-foot-8 Achiuwa with McBride, giving him another ball-handler and potential scorer alongside Jalen Brunson, who has been sidelined by foot soreness in the past two games. provided a person.
In Game 5, Brunson scored 44 points on 18-of-35 shooting, while McBride contributed 17 points in 40 minutes.
Hartenstein only scored seven points, but the 7-footer made a big impact on the offensive line, grabbing the first eight rebounds of the game.
He had 17 boards overall, and Hart had 11 boards after managing just three in Game 4.
Hartenstein became the first Knick player in nearly 30 years to grab 12 offensive rebounds in a postseason game, since Charles Oakley did so on May 15, 1994 against the Bulls.
“I have to give it to Zae.” [Hartenstein] It’s a tremendous amount of credit,” Hart said. “I think he grabbed 12 offensive rebounds by himself. That’s something we need him to do. …Obviously, it’s a huge effort and we need to continue to do that. .”
