It's Boston Versus Indiana in the East; Minnesota Against Dallas in the West
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 20 May 2024
For the first time in years at least, three of last season's also-rans have made it to the NBA Final Four as Minnesota and Indiana advanced to the East and West Conference finals respectively today joining Dallas which was an also-ran in the West last season.
Sixth seed Indiana Pacers displayed hot shooting all night to eliminate the injury plagued second seed New York Knicks 130-109 in game seven held ironically at the Madison Square Garden arena. Indiana which will play top seed Boston in the Eastern Finals did not even make the playoffs in the 2022-23 season finishing 11th overall.
Meanwhile third seed Minnesota Timberwolves shocked second seed Denver Nuggets, 98-90 at the Ball Center arena in Denver to advance to the Western Finals against fifth seed Dallas Mavericks. Minnesota which was ousted in the first round of the playoffs last season, in effect dethroned the NBA defending champions Denver, winning their semifinals series 4-3.
The Western Conference finals thus is essentially a battle of last season's also-rans as Dallas likewise did not make the playoffs, finishing at 11th overall in the West.
In the match in New York, the Pacers proved much too much for the Knicks who were in the game only in the first quarter until Indiana lowered the boom by way of 53 of 79 field goal shooting including 13 of 24 from the three-point area.
Knowing the vital importance of this game, still hurting OG Anunoby and Josh Hart suited up for New York. But Anunoby played for just five minutes before he was removed because he was not yet fit to play. Hart saw action for 37 minutes but fouled out.
What broke the camel's back for the Knicks was when ace scorer Jalen Brunson broke his left hand in a failed steal attempt off Pacers Tyrese Halliburton in the second half. Brunson saw action for 37 minutes but could only score 19 points.
As was their successful strategy in their game six win, the Pacers used their deep bench as well as their size to score on short shots over the shorter Knicks defenders. Do-it-all big man Pascal Siakam and center Myles Turner again did much of the damage. Halliburton, Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard and TJ McConnell likewise time and again perforated the Knicks defense with assortment of shots from the medium and long range as well as from the inside. Reserves Obi Toppin and Ben Sheppard helped in sustaining Indiana's superiority.
Haliburton for the second game in the series led the Pacers offense with 26 points. Two Pacers Pascal Siakam and Nembhard backed him up with 20 points each. Nesmith added 19 while Turner contributed 17.
Adding TJ's 16 points, the total output of these six players was enough to beat the entire New York team today. But coach Rick Carlisle had a lot more in his bench ready to play and contribute to the victory.
The Knicks' loss laid to waste DiVincenzo's 39 points effort and Alec Burk's breakout 26 points game. Brunson still managed to score 17. Hart was the only other Knick in double figure with 10 points although he still had 8 rebounds. Center Isiah Hartenstein who had played a vital role in the Knicks wins in the series was a non factor in this game, not buying a single basket.
The Nugget's defeat was really a shocker as Denver led at halftime by 15 points and even enjoyed a 20-point lead in the third quarter as Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray seemed unstoppable.
But Minnesota rallied strongly through Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels anchored by the Twin Tower of Carl Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert.
Soon, the Timberwolves found themselves sitting on a ten points lead and that perhaps took the fight off the Nuggets as Minnesota never relinquished back the lead until the final buzzer.
McDaniels and Towns topped for Minnesota with 23 points each. Four other T-Wolves posted double figures, Edwards with 16 points, Gobert 13 points, Naz Reid 11 points and Mike Conley 10 points.
It was virtually a two-man army for Denver with Jokic scoring 34 and Murray 35 points. No other Nugget was in double digit with Michael Porter Jr and Aaron Gordon limited to 7 and 4 points.
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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