INDIANAPOLIS — Those are the bitter ironies, the first time the Knicks will play in these games in the hours leading up to 3:30 p.m. Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
There was Josh Hart — a seemingly bulletproof cast-iron horse — wincing in discomfort, massaging his abdomen, and finally trudging to the locker room early in the fourth quarter. . His abdomen was wrapped heavily, and his face was also a combination of ferocity, cut with just a hint of fear.
“Just add it to the list,” Jalen Brunson said.
But there’s also the image of the Knicks as a whole — whatever “whole” means from moment to moment, as they have since January, stubbornly refusing to stop playing with so little time left in the regular season. And he’s spitting intentionally – almost gleefully. The eyes of the Capitol Police, hands clasped and wondering how they could be cornered.
“I think we’re looking back at the end of the season,” Donte DiVincenzo said. “This is exactly why we played the game to win and to earn the No. 2 seed.”
that’s why. This is the reason. The Knicks’ season is in jeopardy, and their ambitions have never been more vulnerable after the Pacers held off the Knicks 116-103 on Friday night in a raucous Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Never. Hart was the most recent nick to drop, having soreness in his abdomen that he was unable to raise his arm to shoot in the second half. Please add to the list. At this rate, there could be 40 more cracks against the Pacers at Gainbridge, and all 40 would be very similar to this one.
But they don’t have to return to Gainbridge until next year.
All they have to worry about is Sunday. 1 match. One game can earn you an extra week or two of basketball and a spot on the Celtics. And because the Knicks ignored the minute police and continued using tape until overtime of Game 82, that game would be played at the Garden.
“And we know the gardens are going to rock,” DiVincenzo said.
Certainly it will be. But for the Knicks, this will be a much different challenge than Game 5. On Tuesday night, 19,812 desperados emptied their voice box clips to put the Knicks in danger, and the Knicks did the rest. It will take longer than that Sunday.
For two full days, the Pacers had their true nature questioned by their coach. Rick Carlyle called them soft. He ruined their efforts. He questioned whether the Knicks wanted to play as hard as they wanted. And Carlyle pushed all the right buttons. This was a decisive and thorough victory. They were the better team on Friday.
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They should be the better team on Sunday as well.
“This is the ultimate game,” Carlisle said Friday. “It’s a great opportunity.”
The Pacers will give the Knicks more help with Pascal Siakam. They’ll already be wary of Tyrese Haliburton and that weird 3-point shot that’s been killing them all series. TJ McConnell will torture them even more. So is his old friend Obi Toppin. And the Knicks were already injured and now they’re bleeding even more.
“If the Knicks don’t win on Sunday, it’ll be for health reasons,” Bob Myers said on ESPN after the game. All Myers did was put together a Warriors team that won four championships between 2015 and 2022. “The way they’ve played against an opponent they’ve already beaten deserves more credit than any other NBA team I’ve ever seen.”
But people won’t be coming to the Garden to watch a Knicks game on Sunday afternoon. On what promises to be a beautiful spring day, New Yorkers won’t stop for three hours just to watch the Knicks play a heroic game in an admirable loss.
And the Knicks didn’t ask them to.
One last time, they attempt to create and craft a 48-minute study in the unlikely. One last time, they’ll wave off those who aren’t there and just worry about who is, whether listed as questionable, doubtful, or possible. They will give you an honest effort. You already know that. And what if playing the game at home makes a difference in bounces, breaks, and whistles?
“I think both teams are going to be desperate,” Brunson said.
Tensions will be high in Midtown both outdoors and indoors, but that’s why the Knicks will sweat and bleed as often as they have. Even if they have to play Game 7 elsewhere, there’s little chance they’ll get there. They’ll be playing Game 7 at the Garden in front of fans who want it more than they want it.
Is that enough?
If so, it’s going to be tough to see.
