The Knicks’ defense in Game 7 was historic. And not in a good way.
New York’s strength throughout the season plummeted by the end of the postseason.
On Sunday, they were eliminated in the Eastern Conference semifinals by a 130-109 loss to Indiana at a packed Garden.
The audience of 19,812 was stunned. I could only imagine this was the number of open looks the injury-riddled Knicks allowed.
They allowed Indiana to shoot 67.1 percent overall, the highest percentage in NBA playoff history.
That was after they tightened up in the second half, and their early defense was even worse than that.
“They made shots. They’re a very good offensive team. You have to challenge their shots, but we didn’t challenge them any more than we had to,” said Tom Thibodeau. “We know that when you’re shorthanded, you always have to play hard to have a chance of winning. If you don’t achieve that…the ball may go in, but your ball doesn’t go in. There is also.”
Everything Indiana stood for worked, especially early on.
The once solid defense finally collapsed under the weight of injuries.
The Knicks made 9 of their first 10 shots against the Pacers, then 16 of 21 in the first quarter, trailing 39-27.
Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton scored 14 points in the opening period, setting the tone for the Knicks to never come back from.
They kept having their point guards come into their position over and over again to take slide-step 3-pointers, but they didn’t have enough left in the tank to stop them.
The Knicks were allowing 80% shooting (24 of 30) with 5:33 left in the first half and were 76.3% by intermission.
This was the best shooting half in a postseason game on record.
“[It came down to] Make or miss a shot. I think they are a tough team and a very efficient team offensively. So, like I said, you have to give them credit,” Josh Hart said of the Pacers’ performance. “No excuses. They came out. They played hard. They had the opportunity, like I said, to fold, quit, stuff, and they didn’t. So, We have to give them credit. They played well.”
Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo scored a game-high 39 points on 9-of-15 3-point shooting, but he could only feel the limits of Indiana’s hot shooting.
“Yeah. You always have to tip your hat,” DiVincenzo said. “It’s a long, hard-fought series. They know they’re ready to play.”
