The Knicks scored a second victory against the Pacers (130-121), on the night from Wednesday to Thursday, and now lead 2-0 in the semi-finals of the Eastern Conference. Bad news for the New York franchise, however: the injury exit of OG Anunoby, injured in the hamstring during the third quarter, while he put in an excellent performance (28 points). Another alert, the injury, at the start of the match, of the star of the franchise, Jalen Brunson, who nevertheless returned to the field, after half-time, to carry his team to victory (29 points, in 32 minutes , at 11/18 shooting and 3/6 from distance).
Hit in the foot during the first quarter, Brunson, who did not play until halftime, watched from the bench as the Pacers dominated, taking a 10-point lead (63-73). ) at the break, then 12 at the start of the third quarter. But with the return at the start of the second half of their star, who has had impressive performances since the start of the play-offs (he scored 43 points in Game 1), the Knicks made up their ground in the 3rd quarter-time, largely won (36-18) and took the lead to win.
In addition to Brunson, who finished with 29 points, 3 steals and 5 assists, the Knicks were able to count on Donte DiVincenzo and OG Anunoby, who scored 28 points each. On the Pacers side, leader Tyrese Haliburton scored 34 points (11/19 shooting), 9 assists and 3 interceptions.
On the other hand, the Knicks may regret the injury exit of OG Anunoby, injured in the hamstring, they who were already deprived of Julius Randle, Bojan Bogdanovic and Mitchell Robinson, all absent until the end of the season. Other players could also begin to suffer the blow: Donte Divincenzo in fact remained on the floor for 44 minutes, Josh Hart, 48, played a new match without leaving for a single second. This total brings his playing time to almost 49 minutes on average in these play-offs, after he notably played 53 minutes during the Knicks’ Game 5, against the Sixers (106-112 defeat after overtime), in the previous round. . Among the Pacers, on the other hand, no player played more than 34 minutes during Game 2.
Victorious in their first two home games, the Knicks will travel to Indianapolis on Friday for Game 3 of the series.
