Five rapid fire thoughts after Pacers stun Knicks in OT
I can't believe what I just watched.
Tyrese Haliburton is the perfect villain for this series
When the lights are at their brightest, Tyrese Haliburton always steps up to the occasion — time and time again. And his ridiculous step-back jumper to send the game to overtime was no aberration.
That’s what makes him the perfect villain to go into Madison Square Garden and face the boo’s. He completely embraces it.
Have a day, Aaron Nesmith!
The talented young two-way wing put on an absolute show late in the fourth quarter, drilling an insane six threes in the final 5 minutes of the game to force overtime. Also, his relentless defense on Jalen Brunson was a huge difference maker down the stretch.
KAT is going to be a problem in this series
It isn’t all doom and gloom for Knicks fans. Karl-Anthony Towns was a complete matchup nightmare all night for the Indiana defense, as he scored 35 points on 11 for 17 from the field and 4 for 8 from three. He also grabbed 12 boards. He’ll continue to be an issue that the Pacers will have to try to solve throughout this series.
Rick Carlisle is an absolute madman
In a series with this much on the line, Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle stuck to his strength in numbers approach and rolled out 10 different guys throughout the course of this game — and it worked. The Pacers kept their intensity level at an all-time high for the entire 48 minutes.
The “choke” celly was still cool even though it wasn’t a game winner
Look, I know his foot was on the line. And yes, it could have ended in very meme-able fashion for Haliburton had the Knicks ended up winning that game in OT. But come on man — that was pretty fucking sweet, especially considering the history of the Knicks and Pacers rivalry and with Reggie Miller sitting right there.
He met the moment, and I loved it. 10/10. No notes.