PAIN OF THEIR EXISTENCE
Star point guards can’t shake injuries — or their importance in deciding Game 4 and series
INDIANAPOLIS — The war of attrition was present in the postgame press conference from Tyrese Haliburton, who grabbed both rails to get himself down the steps and hobble away after the interview, stage left.
“It was my ankle,” Haliburton said. “I rolled my ankle on that steal with the layup in the fourth, and I landed on my tailbone there on that and-one. So just my overall body right now I’m hurting, but I mean they got guys hurting too, so we got to understand everybody’s hurting right now.”
Jalen Brunson is among those ailing. The powerful explosion was absent from his cutting in Friday night’s Game 3 loss, and the obvious explanation, though Brunson wouldn’t admit it, is the mysterious “sore right foot,” as described by the injury report.
Soreness is a symptom, not an injury, but the Knicks haven’t explained why it’s there, and Brunson is never shorter with answers than when he’s talking about his health.
“If I’m out there, I’m playing,” he said. “There’s no excuse whether I’m hurting or not. If I’m hurting, I’ll come out.”
Wounded or not, the Eastern Conference semis, as billed prior to its start, has been about the point guards. Brunson utterly dominated Game 1 while Haliburton disappeared. The Knicks won.
Haliburton resurfaced in Game 2, but Brunson was again the hero after riding the emotional wave of his Willis Reed tunnel moment.
In Game 3, Haliburton was the better player, without much debate, even if he shrunk on the night’s biggest possession by passing on the potential gamewinner to give Andrew Nembhard a very difficult shot. The Pacers made a key defensive adjustment on Brunson (more on that later), and won.
Haliburton downplayed the individual matchup, an understandable reaction considering the point guards rarely guard each other.
“I mean, I don’t think it’s as much about me versus [Brunson] as much as it is our teams versus each other. It’s not about that,” Haliburton said. “It’s just doing what you have to do to win. He’s doing what he has to do for his team to win games, and I got to do that as well to get my team the best chance to win.
“So it’s less about the matchup and who’s scoring or who’s doing what. That’s for y’all to talk about. We’re just trying to win games.”
Winning Game 4 on Mother’s Day, for the Knicks, is a battle on multiple fronts. There’s the consistent angle of overcoming injuries, which will be prominent again. OG Anunoby (strained hamstring) is out despite traveling with the team to Indiana. Precious Achiuwa started in his spot but was ineffective and benched the entire fourth quarter, with Miles McBride getting those minutes down the stretch as the Knicks went small.
The other important adjustment is to get Brunson going after a flat Game 3. Some of that was about Brunson not moving with his usual confidence because of the foot pain. But he also had problems navigating around defender Aaron Nesmith, who shifted onto Brunson as the primary defender for Game 3 and gave him fits as a bigger, stronger body.
When Nesmith was the primary defender, Brunson shot just 6-for-16 with four turnovers and zero assists Friday. Those are brutal numbers.
“Every game is going to have different things going on. We can’t give New York a recipe of the same thing over and over again,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “So the idea was just change the matchup, get a little more size, and Aaron did as good a job, I think, as you can possibly do.”
Brunson gave Nesmith props while also looking forward to fixing the issues.
“He played really well. Played great defense,” Brunson said. “Just gotta give him a lot of credit. Just
didn’t do
the things that I normally know I can do, no matter who’s guarding me, but he did a really good job. Hat’s off to him, and I just gotta be better. I gotta make the correct adjustments and be ready for Sunday.”
If the adjustments unlock MVPlevel Brunson, there’s a much better chance the Knicks win the game. If Haliburton goes off, the Pacers are in a good spot to tie the series at 2.
Both are dealing with injuries. Both have dictated the success and failures of their teams in the playoffs. Both have the ability to influence the pivotal Mother’s Day matchup.