INDIANAPOLIS – For the first time in this year’s playoffs, the Indiana Pacers face an elimination game.
In the first round, the Pacers dispatched the Milwaukee Bucks in six games and never faced a win-or-go-home game. They’ll have to win Friday night in order to keep their season alive.
The Pacers have been a different team at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in the postseason, having won each home playoff game so far.
The difference between “Home Pacers” and “Road Pacers” was no more apparent than the two-game stretch in Game 4 and Game 5. The Pacers beat the Knicks by 32 points on Sunday. With the chance to take a 3-2 series lead on Tuesday, they lost by 30.
The Knicks abused the Pacers on the boards, outrebounding them 53-29 overall and getting a 20-5 edge in offensive rebounds. They torched the Pacers in points in the paint and second-chance points. The Pacers had 18 turnovers. All those extra possessions meant the Knicks attempted 29 more shots from the field.
“I think the biggest thing is rebounding, efficient possessions,” said All Star guard Tyrese Haliburton. “It’s no secret that they dominated the glass [in Game 5] and we’ve got to be able to finish possessions better. Once we do that, that allows our offense to open up.”
Haliburton knows he has to be aggressive from the jump.
“Aggressive doesn’t mean shoot 30 shots,” Haliburton said. “Getting two feet in the paint, being more aggressive, kind of the old-school way of thinking.”
Haliburton and his teammates understand the urgency of Game 6.
“Every possession matters even more than it has all playoffs,” he said.
Center Myles Turner knows the team must be stronger in the middle, especially when it comes to rebounding. He said the issue wasn’t a lack of effort or urgency.
“You have effort and then you have ‘extra effort,’” Turner said. “It’s not like we played with a lack of effort, I felt like they just had the extra effort. They were obviously motivated coming off Game 4, and we have to treat Game 6 the same way.”
Coach Rick Carlisle said it was incumbent upon his team to “play hard.”
“That’s what New York did in Game 5,” he said. “The statistical numbers on possessions and turnovers and all that tell the story of a wipeout. We’ve got a lot of things we’ve gotta do better.”
A repeat of the performance in Game 5 will bring a swift end to the season. Carlisle said the home atmosphere will help, adding it’s up to the team to make it count.
“I know that we’ll have a great crowd, a great building,” Carlisle said. “We’re going to have to do a hell of a lot of things better.”
The Pacers and Knicks play at 8:30 p.m. Friday on ESPN. Should Indiana win, the series shifts to New York for a pivotal Game 7 on Sunday.
