Haliburton Struggled ln Game 5
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
By Shara Talia Taylor
The Indiana Pacers trailed the entire game and ultimately fell to the New York Knicks in a 111-94 loss in game 5 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals held Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Pacers game was affected by Knicks pressure on Tyrese Haliburton, one of the Pacers leading scorers, and Pascal Siakam also scored fewer points than the previous four games. Indiana had more turnovers, was out-rebounded by New York in the game and outscored in the first three quarters of the loss.
“Yeah, I think they did a good job of applying pressure, just did a better job defensively than they did last game, and switched some things up,” Haliburton said about the changes the Knicks made.
Indiana was behind 27-23 at the end of the first quarter and 56-45 at half time. The Pacers trailed in Games 1 and 2 in the first two quarters, but turned the game around after half time. Yet Thursday was a different experience.
“Everything gets more intense as the series continues to evolve and it’s great competition, but we weren’t at the level, compete wise, that we needed to be,” said Pacers Head Coach Rick Carlisle about the differences in the games.
The Pacers trailed 90-73 by the end of the third quarter.
“We came out, we had a little, it just wasn’t enough,” Siakam said about trailing in the second half of the game and their energy. “We have to go back, watch the film, and correct it, but it’s all about will and energy.”
Siakam finished with 15 points, Haliburton scored 8 and Bennedict Mathurin led the Pacers with 23 points. Jalen Brunson had a game high 32 points. Indiana had 40 total rebounds and New York had 45. The Pacers committed 20 turnovers and the Knicks had 15.
“I think that’s the great part about playoff basketball when you play a team so many times there’s always something that you can get better at and improve, even in wins and losses,” Haliburton said. “So put it on me and I’ll be better in game 6.”
Teams move on to play game 6 in Indianapolis, with the Pacers leading the series 3-2.
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