Indiana Pacers beat writer *Scott Agness* goes live after Game 6 of their best-of-seven second-round series with the New York Knicks.
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Scott Agness runs https://www.fieldhousefiles.com/ covering the Pacers and Fever.
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and we are live welcome into the Fieldhouse files live post game show here following the Pacers 116 103 win over the Knicks to force a decisive game seven tonight was the biggest win of the season because their season was over if they weren’t able to pull it up and uh finish on top here tonight at gamebridge Fieldhouse they remain undefeated at home we’ll talk about that Pascal cakam providing the Outburst that Pacers have been waiting for from him in this series how about the uh the eyes of Miles Turner in particular in particular lighting up telling me hey he was determined he was focused on competing here tonight more than that I want to talk about the hustle stats and how the Pacers easily uh won those and those were emphasized by the coaching staff over the last 24 hours more than that uh Josh Hart’s injuries concerning for the Knicks I mean he’s struggled with that since the first quarter went back to the locker room several times and ultimately was unable to finish the game Jaylen Brunson made his first two shots then missed his next 11 a big second quarter Surge and then in the third quarter after a pissed-off timeout from Rick Carlile they regrouped answered the challenge and finished off the Knicks for tonight’s 116 103 win for the p rers and one thing I got to enjoy here um going on is just the Indiana New York battles because over the these four days including last night’s fever home opener you got fever vers Liberty last night Pacers Knicks tonight fever at Liberty tomorrow in the afternoon on ABC and then game seven Pacers Sunday afternoon that game on ABC as well so it’s a big time for all you Pacer fans and just ho fans out there as the Pacers get it done tonight to keep the series alive but you always talk about have players talk about how uh you know the first team to win a road game steals one and has a chance here well neither neither team has done that just yet it’s been Standalone home team wins every single game so what will they look like on Sunday is what will be interesting because I thought if the Knicks won they needed to close it out tonight mostly due to health I wrote at the beginning of the series that it was the war of attrition it was the physicality of the Knicks that could weigh on the Pacers against the depth of the Pacers that such a strength um if players went down with injuries or whatever and right now only Benedict Maan is truly unavailable out with a season ending uh shoulder surgery but outside of that Pacers are relatively good nobody is 100% at this point in the season um no doubt about that so right now I mean you have about five players on on the injury list for the Knicks and Josh Hart clearly dealing with uh a dominal strain maybe an oblique issue there on his left side he grab he was using a heat pack that’s pulled from the hydrocor I used to make those all the time uh when I used to uh be a ball boy there so that’s some insight for you a little bit um but those things can be really hot that’s why they wrap a towel around them um and by the way you don’t want to Spill the hydroc on you I have and it burned my foot burned my hand very hot but that’s what tells me he needed some heat to apply to that area maybe his oblique um that was bothering him um and the fact we know how tough he is the fact that he played 12 straight quarters in the playoffs didn’t want to come out um he even told reporters stop asking me about it I’m gonna play every minute y’all know that well he hasn’t in the last couple games clearly bothered and um the fact that he only was able to give him 31 minutes tonight and I thought his face on the bench told us everything it told me not only his concern for finishing this game which he did not went back to the locker room but also maybe the possibility of Sunday and that brings up this point look they have like a 36-hour turnaround here now the Knicks do get to go home um they do get to get be in their comfort of their home beds for the next couple of nights but this again favors the Pacers with this current situation the war of attrition the depth and so many Nicks players injured especially ogan anobi when he got hurt and when it was clear I think after the first day that he was unavailable that’s where I think think this series ultimately turned because when he’s not available when he’s unable to do what he’s known to do um in particular battle with Pascal out there then it started to favor the P Pacers the only thing was the Pacers kept getting in their own way they were getting out worked on the glass control the controllables and they weren’t doing that that’s why you saw that what 30-point Beatdown a couple nights ago three nights ago at New York um it wasn’t like just shots weren’t falling um or the fouls went against them no in that situation ultimately what it was was they were getting their ass kicked they weren’t playing hard enough they didn’t want the offensive rebounds and that’s the that’s what the Knicks are known for that is their identity the Pacers I would argue don’t really have a true identity right now um they’re still trying to figure out this culture and and asking him about it a couple years ago Rick Carlow noting hey C culture is an everyday thing it’s not something you just have and one day you don’t or you don’t have and all of a sudden you get it it’s something you work on and try to approve upon every single day so I think there’s a positive um culture and a lot that has been established but that remains a work in progress and still has a ways to go but it’s really astounding that the Pacers are one win away from potentially reaching the Eastern Conference Finals against the powers of the East all season long in the Boston Celtics um I was going to be shocked if they didn’t reach the Conference Finals and I’ll be shocked if they don’t win and advance to the NBA finals which I’m sure will be against either Minnesota or Denver whichever team on that side comes out on top in their game seven as well so you got a pair of them coming up uh this weekend which should be a lot of fun in that department come back to my thoughts here in just a minute I want to get to your questions and if you haven’t left a question or comment just yet I invite you to do so in the YouTube comment section if you join late or have to jump on early I will be posting this on the Fieldhouse files podcast if you’re like me maybe you want to jump off in a second and listen on two time speed I don’t fault you whatsoever that is my personal preference but if you involve in the chat it can be a little bit of a a two-way conversation here but the Pacers get it done 116 103 the key quarter was that second quarter they trailed by one after one nothing lost I thought it was notable how the officials let them play for the most part early on one foul call in just the first five minutes some physicality was allowed then by halftime it was Pacers had almost as many twice as fouls called on them as they did the Knicks the Knicks had many more free throw opportunities but that didn’t sway the game that didn’t change things entirely um the three-point what’s been interesting to me in this series we talked so much about transition points and how the Pacers want to play Fast we’ve also talked about how they are a good three-point shooting team when they need to be how you know they could erupt and want to take so many three-point tries tonight just 26 attempts they made only nine of them and they still got the win they changed their in Focus entirely I thought it was incredibly notable how their first shot made Tyrese halberton 3 their last shot made in the corner I believe Obi toppen three-pointer everything else between them two-point shot everything else between them inside the paint it was not a mid-range now we saw Pascal get into the mid-range in that second quarter but the Pacer decisively wanted to attack they wanted to play physical they wanted to win the inside game and as we have seen all series long the win the team that is more physical that wins the rebounding battle and probably the points in the pain is going to come out on top and the Pacers handedly won those two departments here tonight rebounding they 4735 points in the paint they obliterated the New York Knicks 62- 38 and for those reasons plus some others they got the victory here tonight to force a game seven to the comments section we go here Chris welcome he says let’s go Pacers have the advantage on short rest I think the Pacers can win this series I don’t even want to hear people say that because of injuries the Pacers have win had to win five of seven if they win on Sunday I mean let’s be real though with the Pacers really be in this situation if Dame and Giannis were not significantly hurt maybe maybe I think you could make a valid argument um because of the success they had what winning four or five regular seeding season meetings now given you didn’t face them at full strength they didn’t face the Pacers with Pascal cakam Doc Rivers had not been there but that said injury situation played a big part and absolutely it did in this series but nonetheless you got to play to your circumstances and what NBA people will often say you never apologize for winning here you you take there’s circumstances that go with you there’s circum certain certain circumstances that go against you and quite frankly the Pacers were due for some good CC circumstances like how many times did they craft a competitive possible team I’m talking 2018 19 20 and injuries never allowed for that team to develop your sabonis your Malcolm Brogden your Victor Oladipo Jeremy Lamb type years when you just had injury after injury um right there so Pacers have been on the other side of it no doubt and right now it’s imperative for them to take advantage of the Fable circumstances flamekeeper says on 40 hours rest heart will be out or Limited Effectiveness Pacers plus three looking like a good bet if you’re a sports investor there you go man my first thought on all that is do you go against what’s happened in this series though right which I just talked about and that’s the home team winning all six games and so um given the circumstances yeah it does change your thinking I think a little bit right there you’re absolutely right about that but it does give you a little bit of pause or I think it should given what we’ve seen play out and man MSG is the best homec Court environment not the best arena to be clear but the best game environment the best atmosphere the number of celebrities and I’m talking real celebrities that they get a turnup the other thing that I’ve loved and been really impressed with is the number of alums that have shown up um now I would argue Marberry and John Starks are a little too close to the core can you back them up stay behind the photographers perhaps maybe not touch the guys even if you are former players now that said um I love that turnout I want to see more of that that’s one of the things that I think makes the NBA special is so many of the dignitaries or former standouts for the teams like to show up like to show out uh tonight at the Pacer game Dale Davis Antonio Davis I would have lik to see the Pacers do more for them Pacers in recent history have been doing all kinds of video tributes let’s get a video tribute to both of them yeah how about let’s highlight Derrik mcke who I’m sure was there I didn’t see but I guarantee he was there those are your times you do the tributes these are showing up showing out turning up quite well um I much rather see that than a a tribute video for a guy who was here for 17 games uh untu says he’s very excited Pacers in seven Luis are the Pacers ahead of schedule with this three-year three to four year plan I think so and it’s mainly because of Tyrese becoming a better player right away but more so because of Pascal seaka coming into the post this season I thought the expectation should be get get to the postseason be a top six seed once you acquire halber or excuse me SE yakum midseason like they did um then I thought you probably should have ended up four five seed now they should have they threw away a couple trash games one of them I think late was to Toronto that they should not have um on top of that halberton battled his injuries but otherwise the Pacers really had a healthy year for the most part outside that comes to mind right is you had Andrew nimart deal with two or three just random things especially that kidney stone that limited him in training camp and then you got to think right away of uh Hal Burton’s left hamstring strain that kept him out about 10 games but once he came back for good he had four games to miss to still qualify for all NBA and reach the 65 game threshold he didn’t need that he played in the rest of the games um then you’ve seen some other players deal with some things like n Smith on the injury report for a couple games in this postseason but that hadn’t bothered him or slowed him down too much um I do think after the postseason halberton uh could explain a little bit more of how much pain he’s been going through and what it’s taken to get him available to play because several games this postseason he’s just not looked sharp including two playoff games in this series alone but yes to your point Lis I think the Pacers are slightly ahead of schedule um I mentioned it on my last uh live chat but I think it’s also notable here that the what the Pacers are doing they’re doing without their last three top picks they had been in the lottery each of the last three years and none of them are helping them they traded away Chris DTE Benedict Maan um he’s hurt and jarus Walker isn’t ready he’s out of the rotation so just imagine if you had those top picks helping you out U right now in addition to what you already have and I’d argue look in hindsight um and actually no not in height sight we knew at the time you shouldn’t have traded away buddy heel either and this team would be better off as well both in the short and the long term here now it was doing him a favor it’s not a um you know the Pacers could have said no I guess and not cooperated um it was nice of them to help him out but I bet Buddy’s saying man the green grass isn’t always greener on the other side right he gets to Philly starts but then has a limited role comes off the bench did have like one productive game I think of maybe 17 points in a first half I do remember uh during one of the postseason games but because of health because of Joel embiid’s avail ability or lack thereof they weren’t able to advance so he’s sitting at home in the Bahamas watching while his best friend Tyrese and the Pacers continue to advance and I go back to my earlier comment just nine of 26 from three that’s where another way you’ve seen this team really shift its priorities and what it accomplishes and what its focuses are with not without buddy out there you lack his threo threat you lack his scoring uh you last uh you lack rather Halbert and have that safety net um so it’s very interesting here moving forward but that trade wasn’t healthy because you’re not getting anything from Doug McDermot Off the Bench right now you’re not even playing him um you’re keeping the ti rotation tight I thought it’d be a little tighter we have seen Isaiah Jackson contribute so that has been a positive as he’s been the top big Off the Bench and not Jaylen Smith who obviously has a decision to make coming up this off season with a player option back to the comments we go here on the Fieldhouse files postgame show Chris says winner in the rebound category has been the winner in each game yeah absolutely um that’s a deciding factor that’s a hustle stat um that one you can kind of look at and and kind of tells the picture of the game especially offensive rebounds and Pacers don’t need to dominate that category but they were plus one rebounding one second chance points one points in the paint um the team that was out phys that was able to out hustle win those 5050 balls I mean they you’re going to win you heard Rick Carlile last game uh say it was an embarrassing performance he really challenged his team I thought after game five in New York both there and at practice yesterday um cussed a couple times that’s typical Rick Carlile he tones it back I think for us media he has a couple key lines that he drops but more than anything he was pissed off and he kept it short and he was like what else do I have to say play hard that’s what it comes down to and it did MK sinks you’ve attended every single one of these live postgame shows I appreciate that he says can the Pacers bottle this energy to bring to game seven in MSG I hope so don’t let this game get away also Ty’s defense on McBride was concerning just too easy yeah you’re right about that Tai’s not a good Defender he’s not going to pretend to be I don’t think we talk about it enough um there was a point late in the game kind of like third quarter TJ McConnell was crushing I did not like the fact that they brought Ty in uh I think it was late third quarter uh look TJ only played 16 minutes tonight he was not worn down he was not tired I didn’t see any to go back to Tyrese who was just kind of I thought he was fine in this game he wasn’t spectacular he was not star player like by any means but he did have a good game um Pascal had a game that the Pacers had been waiting for in this series Tyrese you’re still kind of waiting for could he pop off for a 35-point game or a 20 point 12 assist game now probably not one because of Health but also because in the playoffs you see Tendencies really uh narrowed down these teams Scout each other oh so well um get good grasp of each other and their Tendencies and what they want to do you see defensive shifts and I really like what the Nicks coaching staff did and putting McBride on him to slow him down and on the other way McBride and other offensive players are of course going to hunt him they Jaylen Brunson was hunting uh and has been hunting Tyrese halberton in the pick and roll very often in this one all right I want to jump down just in case he might have to go Jay Michael who used to be in Indie what’s up man good to see you on here can imagine um what you’re up to right now with Orlando out of the playoffs man that would have been fun to see them continue on they needed a guy like TJ McConnell they needed their point guard um so maybe we’ll see what they ultimately Come Away with this summer um but he says I’m envious you get a cover this version stay up to date nice yeah I was talking earlier I think before you got on here I’m not sure when exactly but how we didn’t get to see those teams to its goal right um what you know the 2018 2019 2020 20 teams it was just Seasons that were ruined by injuries Malcolm Brogden was never healthy Vick’s fluke injury sabonis is didn’t play in the bubble we saw TJ play TJ Warren had a great bubble but then really never was a Pacer after that because of that fracture in his foot and now he really hasn’t done much since so that part has been fun um good to see man Turner looks like a different player he is it’s his head space it’s totally his head space and his confidence once they gave him that contract extension in particular that’s where he’s really changed and and matured a great deal I I saw his eyes tonight and I was like oh he’s GNA have a good game he was playing pissed off he was playing determined I saw when he was boxing out early in the first quarter um that’s what told me because sometimes you know these guys get lazy right first quarter they’re not trying to do that but he absolutely did had a couple Big Blocks there early on um so that was been fun thanks for jumping on here man good to see you uh J Michael and yeah TJ until he’s 50 for sure I love that back and forth when uh or when Mike Breen mentioned how TJ looked directly over at JJ reick because I think as as you know too J Michael those two are like best friends JJ reick and uh T.J McConnell uh I still explicitly remember going to Philly several years ago and being in that locker room and JJ was outside yelling hey TJ hurry up they were gonna go to dinner obviously um that night it was in TJ’s first return so that would have been 2019 I think actually um and that was a cool moment they obviously have their love for wine basketball smarts they both have some kids so a lot of things they bond over too all right let’s get back to the comments here again the Pacers winning tonight 116 103 advancing to game seven coming up on Sunday tomorrow before that also on ABC in the afternoon fever at liberty for those Caitlyn Clark fans who may be on here all right what else we got anus says Pacers way ahead of schedule Pascal accelerated the timeline greatly yep totally agree like I said um but trading buddy hee um negatively impacted the team this year there weren’t going to be extend more extension talks I think they were too far apart and quite frankly buddy was pissed off about the way it was handled he saw his former team or his then teammates get rewarded like miles like n Smith like Hal Burton and he’s sitting back saying hey what about me what about mine um and he ultimately didn’t get it he wanted a number uh much higher than the Pacers were willing to go to which is fine that’s why you negotiate um I’m very curious to see what kind of number that buddy heeld will sign to agree to this offseason as he hits free agency a little older um but yes no doubt Pacers are ahead of schedule right now what else we got Luis do you think the Pacers will try to address the Nick’s use of wasting time and other Shenanigans to give their players more time what do you mean how to address that how would they address that um there’s a couple challenges certain things Pacers are very very good at wasting time as well especially especially rolling the ball in and things like that I think that’s where they are fantastic at um Tyrese TJ do that a lot joic probably is the best at killing game clock one of the best at that uh what else the flamekeeper says the whistle has remained slanted even games four and six Nicks get more free throws I don’t think it was too planted you can’t just look directly excuse me at foul calls at free throws those are an indication but I don’t think that tells the full story remember the Pacers foul more than any team during the regular season they weren’t good at defending without fouling so the fact that they have more foul calls that’s to be expected given their history given how they played during the regular season that is on brand for how this Pacers team has been playing um yeah sure a couple things went against them I thought there was a couple calls that weren’t consistent um but no need to get into that the Pacers clearly won tonight we’re clearly the better team it did not come down to a couple whistles at all um but it will be interesting coming up on Sunday I know a lot of fans were pissed off about Zack zarba being out there I think he’s the best official in the league now there were some struggles in game one no doubt but I feel better when Zack zarba is out there whether it’s a Pacer game whether it’s a game I’m just watching on national TV because he has such a command out there they all are not perfect they’re humans but I think Zach zaror Remains the best official in the league um what else we got Luis says with the Pacers being ahead of schedule or ownership make a genuine run I remember back in the day the Simons not wanting to get into the luxury tax ever I got a great indication for you I got a direct answer for you yes if they can compete for a title yes the Simons are willing to pay absolutely the thing is like right now if you take their current circumstances today this is not a championship team so of course you’re not going into the luxury tax keep an eye on what’s going on throughout the league and so many teams are into that second tax apron which is going to be costly I’ll be very curious what the Nuggets look like because they have contract extensions that will need to be done I think with Aon Gordon and Jamal Murray you hope that doesn’t break up their team so to spend in the luxury tax you have to almost in this day and age in the NBA to succeed and Herb he talked with us in a sitdown I think it was two years ago maybe three I wrote about on Fieldhouse files.com yes he is willing uh but moving buddy cleared the road for sheper to be able to play yep that is true and Shep has developed some and been a solid contributor 19 points 19 minutes tonight Four Points one of three shooting and Buddy could have done that though so that’s my argument there um but to be clear too let’s talk about both ends of the floor and Ben is clearly an upgrade defensively so it did clear more space for Shephard it did clear more for Matan while he was out there but for a push for this season only the team would have been better with Buddy still out there do you think Shep still gets extensive minutes during the playoffs if Buddy was I kind of just answered that sorry um you could definitely tell Pascal wanted the ball from the start also really thought the reverse Tech before halftime seemed like a nothingburger I totally agree and I thought it was bad coverage by ESPN not to show what happened going into the half or at least coming out of the half show us what happened show us that it was in your words a nothing burger and what went on there um they got tangled up it was nard it was Brun or not Brun divon chenzo um Brunson even came over and I could see on a camera that he was like tech tech kind of trying to bring it out of him and it didn’t did work uh I just wish they would have better explained it it was a technical it was on Nim hard it was after the half therefore they the they go to the locker rooms come back back and out of the first half to start the second half it was going to be free throws and so that’s what happened and ultimately that did not cost them um but yeah and then the other thing to your point here was you could definitely tell Pascal yeah and he was so smooth in his mid-range I don’t think he forced anything he did attempt 21 shots made over half of them at 11 and that’s what you want to see more of if he could give you 25 points five seven assists five rebounds every game there you go that’s what you’re looking for I think it’s a both a combination of Pascal needing to be more assertive yet at the same time I think that’s on Tyrese that’s on the coaching staff to get him involved earlier on and call his number um they don’t call a ton of plays now they probably are I think more right now just because it’s more of a out of the half court less Fast Pace I mean the Pacers only had eight fast break points and that was a wash because the Knicks did as well uh I’ve getting a lot of comments about Josh Hart um and all we’ve gotten so far which was Tom thibo saying could be we’ll see uh that’s the typical answer by the way if you weren’t aware of what Tom thibo says if you say you know hey is Miles McBride starting again on Sunday could be um I was talking to my Nick’s beat writers um and then I had dinner with some of them I guess it was almost a week ago I think yeah over uh game four um and that was one of the jokes is anything you ask him that maybe he doesn’t want to reveal he’ll just say could be you know is ogn anobi playing this Sunday yeah could could be sometimes it means yes sometimes it means no I think he’ll absolutely try I bet he’ll be out there just guessing because he doesn’t want his season end with him not even giving it a chance um unless MRI results reveal that it’s something bigger but right now the early indications significant pain he used a heating pack could not finish the game I’m sure he’s getting more tests and it’s a short turnaround which makes things even more difficult and more favorable for the Pacers I said this on radio this week and I’ll repeat here I don’t understand the condensed schedule that the NBA is using right now these are the most important games and they’re getting just one day between most games now two be before this one that was only because of the fever that’s because of the debut of Caitlyn Clark at home uh Thursday night at the Fieldhouse which by the way I wrote about at fieldhouse files.com in a full photo gallery there if you want to check that out but outside of that it probably would have been every other day um and regardless of who wins on Sunday the Conference Finals begins Tuesday in Boston so that’s that’s a quick turnaround um in fact I’m guessing tomorrow the message from the Pacers is we’re packing for three games that’s that’s what I’m fully expecting to write about because I don’t see any reason you come home if you win 3:30 game that means you leave New York probably an hour bus ride to nework means you get home at like 900 PM only to turn around Monday n you’re staying and going straight to Boston I can guarantee you that even though I don’t know it for sure all right what else do we got on here uh yeah I answer the Josh Hart probably going to be questionable and try to play through it is my guess did I get a better explanation on the Nim hard tech I think I explained that as well again um he just kind of fought with Dante Devan chenzo got his and what I mean by that is their arms kind of got tangled up um and that’s what was called it was foolish it cost them a point and Brunson made that dant chenzo made a three to in the half It ultimately became an 8 nothing run because the Pacers gave up back-to-back layups then to start the second half um and that’s where it was a decisive moment I thought Rick Carlile called timeout 38 seconds into the second half and from there on out it was all Pacers um it was a great response nard three halberton three both from the left side and from of the Knicks bench and that’s really when the game flipped for good Pacers grew it to a double digit lead they never trailed in the second half and in tonight’s game they led by as many as 23 and what was a third straight blowout in this series you got to wonder how much of that is just attributed to the short rest and especially the Knicks lack of depth like it’s so hard to turn around game after game so you invest heavily in one game and then kind of go from there Ethan says have you noticed that Brunson and dant jenzo both nudg the ball out of bounds after a Knicks made basket no I don’t I’m trying to picture what you’re saying and I and I just don’t I’ll check it out maybe for our next live stream Matt what’s up man thanks for joining on here appreciate that good to see you I wish I was going to game seven but I will not unfortunately um which is disappointing but I was out in Connecticut a couple of days ago for Caitlyn Clark’s debut I will not be making it out for either games in New York this week and either Saturday or Sunday unfortunately um good morning everyone oh yeah that is true it’s 12:30 in the morning good morning about time for coffee isn’t it Pascal was good tonight yeah he sure was Pacers needed some star to step up this was a big moment this was a decisive moment in the series and if not for SE yakum let’s say he had eight points tonight I don’t think the Pacers win this I mean unless like a McConnell went off for 20 or halberton looked for his shot more I mean the the most alarming thing I would say in this series is among them is nth what happened to his three-point shot he was almost good for two or three threes every game tonight he was over four here’s my guess on all this is he’s worn out he’s playing 31 minutes and guarding Bronson he’s got the top defensive assignment so you worry less about that but imagine if he was making two of five in a game that’s a huge change right there who’s to give credit for giving the players excellent movement and IQ on the offensive end they’re imp they’re impressive for being so young and mature beyond their years uh I think a lot of that’s just the individuals and they’re smarts starts at the point guard position with all three point guards with halberton with McConnell and with nart all all three of those you UST to run the offense all three of those you trust to get other guys to set them up and to have a good time right there so um yeah I think that’s key um several others have have a good IQ and what they’re trying to get accomplished um but it starts with your point guard extension of the coaches out there um and then Mike Weiner’s probably they don’t they’re not using the coordinator system like they traditionally have like most traditionally do um but Mike Weiner probably does the most of the offense along with Lloyd Pierce helping in a variety of aspects whereas Jenny busik along with uh Jim boan do a lot of what they’re handling on the defensive end tips say a track record of players getting injured do you think it’s bad luck or a tibs issue I think it’s guys playing hard and things happen and the more minutes you play the more likelihood it is for you to get injured there was nothing dirty tonight there was nothing random tonight uh I don’t know if it was a previous injury for Josh Hart but he just went up had his arm in there for a rebound and I don’t know if it got tugged or if it re-aggravated something but that’s all it looked like um just like halberton a couple games ago tweaked I think it was his right ankle um that happens the more minutes you play and their their team and tips’s teams play a lot of minutes McBride was good tonight in the first half he’s finished with 20 points 15 of those in the first half if he was kind of the standout Knicks player in the first half we saw Brun make two quick baskets in the first two minutes but then he missed 11 shots in the road two in the half um I I haven’t mentioned it yet but I think the turning point of this game was in that second quarter um 15 17 to five run to close the half it would have been 17-2 if they wouldn’t have given up that three-pointer from from Devon chenzo but even more telling is they were down 3735 and the Pacers rattled off nine straight made field goals you don’t see that very often especially in a high level playoff game um it was a 22 to9 run including 13-2 um and during that run the Knicks missed six shots in a row so I thought that’s where they asserted themselves they kind of changed the vibe of the game moved in front and basically stayed there for good the rest of the way uh n Luis says nimart is quietly extremely good G had a extremely good game probably his most complete game in the series six of 12 15 points six rebounds six assists solid defensively yeah I could agree with that no doubt uh yes Brunson has to do better U most of his scoring was seemingly when the game was over it felt like the final like 10 points of his team high or game high 31 uh yeah this is game Seven’s when stars come out um so this is where you look to Halbert to Brunson maybe Miles Turner has a 25-point game and if you’re them you’re looking at Brunson and divon chenzo probably and then a big assist from some other players Off the Bench whether that’s McBride who’s now in a starting role or I don’t know hartenstein dominates the glass I don’t think that it’s it’s fair to ask a lot out of Josh Hart you want for him to be out there to be be able to contribute but I don’t think you can ask a lot out of him all right I think I’ll take a little bit more here it’s getting late and how about this nearly 50 people on this live chat we’ve had several hundred over the last 35 minutes join in and of course you can watch the replay here on YouTube after it’s done or listen on the podcast on Fieldhouse files uh n Smith has no legs on offense because of his defense yeah I was kind of alluding to that not surprising but it would be nice if he’d be able to knock down a couple threes and extend the game the Pacers is just nine threes so they need more players that can extend their range and and knock it down and I do like how they have adapted like threes aren’t falling great just attack keep getting the basket and tonight uh they were plus 24 inside the pain over the Knicks Pacers would have home court if they took care of the scrub teams during the SE yep absolutely could have should have would have but didn’t um they were over 10 games that wouldn’t have been asking a lot for them to beat right Portland a couple times Charlotte a couple times Toronto uh that bus game that went into overtime their first overtime game of the season that they ended up losing a lot of that and every team probably has some of that maybe not as many um I get worried about this team in the clutch after the All-Star break the Pacers have been I think the worst team in the clutch so that’s something to keep in mind in game seven is you want to win decisively because they have struggled I don’t know I don’t have the exact numbers in front of me but at one time I think they were like three and 16 in games that were within five points in five minutes or less Ethan says getting the W on Sunday is the priority but I think taking the series to seven makes this run seem even more legitimate to non- Pacer fans a ton of people were so quick to write the Pacers off yeah but again the circumstances man don’t forget about that OG’s out Mitchell Robinson’s out that’s that’s a start along with a six-man um that’s the reason I wouldn’t have picked the Pacers in the series I think the Knicks would have won if they had a little more depth and strength to them wonder I wondered during this game as Obi toppen by the way had a good contribution Off the Bench you know they gave him up for a second round pick and he’s on the final year of his rookie deal um I know it really didn’t work out he was kind of unhappy maybe didn’t get along with tibs there at the end had a shouting match maybe in the locker room um is what one of the beat writers was telling me about up there but still he would have gotten a lot of time I think during this playoff run just to because of depth but um yeah in general you’re right Ethan just those that don’t follow the Pacers they saw what they did during the inseason tournament reaching the finals and them breing a game seven against a good Knicks team although underman and depleted absolutely means something to the casuals does OG play on Sunday I don’t think so no I mean when you pop a hammy like that you’re out for several weeks we saw that with Tyrese and so um I I’d even be surprised if OG’s ready to go for game one of the Conference Finals should the Knicks Advance coming up on Sunday good stuff as always I appreciate it Lise thanks for tuning in you two have been one of the faithful viewers of this after every single Pacers game so I do appreciate that any news on Pacers TV situation and the death of B Sports nothing new to report there um no uh diamond sport going through their bankruptcy issues challenges I my guess is what you’ll see is the that Regional Network to continue on um there will be a new naming rights partner as balet Sports name is dissolving so like it was Fox Sports Indiana Now balet Sports I think there will be a new naming rights partner um but it will still have the same concept that you know and uh all of that that’s what I’m expecting but I think there could be more involvement from Amazon they obviously bought into it tried to bail them or have helped bail them out I think that could positively impact it um and the NBA is very aware and very um up to date on what’s going on and needing to make games more readily available the fact that you can get more fever games in Market available um says all you need to know you can get 10 of their 40 Games available over the air on channel 13 um I was disappointed the Pacers didn’t elect to use kind of an option this season at the end where they could have done I think up to five maybe 10 games on a trial run move it from Valley Sports to one of the local TV stations if a deal was reached um on a trial run that would have given you data it would have given um it would have expanded your audience and opened it up to Millions who could have just watched any Pacers game with an antenna if you have YouTube TV like me you’d get the games so nothing new to report on that I know some fans have been disappointed that there hasn’t been any um influence or or live shows or anything like that it’s been weird to not have any balet sports pregame or postgame show like they ordinarily do during the postseason I haven’t asked them about it but I got to imagine it’s due to the money situation and the bankruptcy situation and what’s the current status but I mean the Pacers are making the run here and uh local broadcasts end after the first series and that’s kind of the end of it I would personally love to see the regional Sports Network um return and boost what it’s doing I think there should be a dedicated weekend program like an a magazine program 30 minute show um I think there should be more features I think there there should be uh a lot more I could get into that you probably don’t care I’m a big Sports media nerd again the Pacers win 116 103 tonight in game six game seven Sunday 3:30 available nationally on ABC so you don’t need a streaming cable platform or anything like that unfortunately the Knicks are fantastic in the clutch yeah for sure uh not Jaylen Brunson on here says how many wins do you think the fever will get this series season tough to say um py games um I think they’re a fringe playoff team I’m not sure what that’ll take um but I I think they’re they are better than what they are are showing right now trouble is they’re playing the top two teams in the Eastern Conference and they play them twice in the first four games and one team has the MVP last year and the other has the MVP runner up and Alysa Thomas of Connecticut Brianna Stewart Alissa Thomas so the schedule is awful and that’s because every Network wanted to show Caitlyn Clark in her debut and so they’ve had three different games on three different networks here to start with tomorrow being on ABC in the afternoon Matt says when was the last time the Pacers were undefeated at home through first two rounds of the playoffs good stat idea but I can’t look that up right now while I’m live buddy um very curious about that six and0 in the first two series they’ve won 11 in a row at home going back exactly two months from today in fact it was a loss to the clevand Cavaliers won their final five regular season home games and six in a row here to start the playoffs Justin says does this series in its competitiveness reestablish the Knicks as the team you love to hate over the Knicks H not yet um I’ll speak from my vantage point I love everything about these Knicks and how hard they play and their toughness and how they don’t make excuses and you know Josh Hart wants to be out there badly so he tried to go back out there and just didn’t feel good so he headed out um those Knicks teams are just so unlikable um not for the result but for the personalities and the whininess and things like that I I think this Nicks team is everything you hope for in a team of good personalities uh bonding some connections and guys trying to play through injuries so no I don’t I don’t think that reestablishes it Ike’s excited he says let’s go Luis says having better local coverage would be amazing and would bring back memories of the 90s when you could almost get to know your favorite player exactly that’s exactly my point Lis that’s what I’ve stressed to the team that’s why I think features are so important that’s why I think putting players and coaches and staff members on PO co uh podcasts would be integral to doing all that honestly that’s why I started my podcast all the way back in 2015 because one I had a lot to say two I had a mic and the main thing being I wanted to show off the people behind the scenes the player relations rep the community relations the head of PR explain your job I had the head athletic trainer I had the head strength coach on there now Pacers don’t want to do that as much anymore there’s a lot of privacy that goes into that some teams don’t even make their assistant coaches available Pacers are bet have been better about that traditionally but I’d still love to do more I’d love to talk men’s and women’s game with Jenny buk I’d love to have Kelly crossov on to talk about her memories of the fever I’d love to get to know Ted woo and how he wrote the collective bargaining agreement and now is working for the Pacers and is such a weapon for the team those are the things I think so many of you would be fascinated by I get to know get to know a lot of them privately um but I want to show share their stories more so one of the stories I’m working on coming up is for the draft and that’s the team’s vice president of player Personnel is Ryan Carr he’s been with the team for a couple of decades now he’s from out west only came to Indiana because he was a big bob Knight fan had a friend that put him got him in touch became a manager he was ultimately Pat Knight’s roommate and Pat Knight just completed his 10th and final year with the Pacers as a scout last week was hired as the head coach at Marian University and once I finally get some time I’ll write that story as I was the only reporter over there to talk to Pat Knight oneon-one after he was hired as the marry and Men men’s basketball coach so those are the type of things Luis man that’s that’s my bread and butter that’s what I love more than anything because it’s the personalities and those people behind the scenes that draws the interest that you guys can relate with and talk to and there have a rooting interest for much like Turner has done with his Turner’s block I think he’s done a tremendous job with that and his Outreach and getting the community involved in his warm program uh PJ’s late to the party says any update on Hart’s injury um nothing substantial just that he’s bothered by an abdominal strain applied a heat pack on that left side kind of an oblique injury Tom Tibido as usual didn’t really add much just said he could play Sunday we’ll see um I don’t expect anyone to say any more than that because you don’t want to give up uh if he’s definitely sitting out you’re not going to say that gives the Pacers a competitive Advantage but as I said earlier PJs I’m expecting him to try to play because why wouldn’t you um if it’s just playing through pain maybe you can get like a shot or something a shot up um it’s not something you want to do regularly but it if it gets you to a game seven I think you’re willing to do that uh not Jaylen Brunson says can you see this Knicks team beating Boston if they win Sunday no and I don’t see the Pacers beating them I I think and I’ve said since before the season the Celtics are the best team in the East I fully expect for them to reach the Eastern Conference Finals and that’s still the case even if porzingis is unavailable for half of the Conference Finals um on top of that they haven’t played since Wednesday the winner of Sunday afternoon is going to go straight to Boston I think and have like a day to prepare and zero rest if you’re the Knicks you have no dep if you’re the Pacers this is all new to you um who the heck is going to stop Jaylen Brown Jason Tatum Drew holiday um it’s a handful but that’s a step ahead but I I think the Celtics probably winning five games is my guess a lot of blowouts these last three games too I think that’s just the shortened schedule which is negatively impacting everything going on yeah Boston is well rusted exactly that’s what I’m saying uh players used to go to Pizza Hut for what why would they go to Pizza Hut I used to go to Pizza Hut not very often uh anymore uh you’re given legitimate chance to go win this thing on the road I’m nervous uh yeah I do give the Pacers a legitimate shot again it starts because of Health that’s the number one thing right here um because Jaylen brunson’s you know he’s exhausted you could see him playing on tired legs out there um Josh Hart if he’s unavailable like you’re going to need a lot more from Alec Burks and pre aoua uh second of all and you’re already down OG Mitchell Rob bu on bonovich and Julius Randall so if the Pacers don’t take care of business Sunday it’s a huge disappointment that’s where I’ll leave that Matt with the answer of course he asked what was the last time the Pacers had been undefeated I think in the first two rounds he said Pacers also won six straight in the 2013 playoffs three and0 in the first round three and0 in the second round before losing the first home game to Miami in the Conference Finals so that was my first year on the beat actually yeah that one ultimately went down to the Conference Finals game seven um that was a lot of fun man those are some fun years and Matt appreciate you using your quick wits and your stat seeking Avail ability to go find that so first time in over a decade is what you’re seeing and all that makes sense because this is the first time in a decade that the Pacers since 2014 have won a playoff series so um in order to do that you’re going to have to string to together some home wins to have some success there all right I’ll take a few more questions here on the Fieldhouse files live postgame show if you missed any of it you can watch the replay or how about you listen at two times speed on the Fieldhouse files podcast is the road crowd really that big of an intimidating Factor Why do they make such a big deal of road games yes absolutely and especially in New York and at Madison Square Garden if you watch the broadcast you totally see why during every timeout there showing another VIP and it’s not just a a d-list actor it’s like Ben Stiller um shoot I’m terrible at all these actors that’s not my thing I don’t watch many movies but it’s all these Knicks players um it’s giant New York Giants players it’s New York Jets players like it’s amazing the crowd that they draw and they do that on purpose to make these games feel bigger to make the audience at home feel it they give away those first row of seats some of them um for celebrities and they do it in exchange for Stuff can show them on the video board some athletes don’t want that and if they don’t want to be recognized shown spotlighted then they’re probably going to have to buy their seat um but that’s why you see that rest equals rust uh not man right now in the playoffs give me rest 100% of the time I’m not worried about rust even if you are worried about rust that’s for one game one game um I like the Celtics chances forget the talent difference just from a pure rest standpoint that is a huge huge huge difference they already knocked away the Cleveland Cavaliers and are already scouting both the Pacers and the Knicks getting prepared for Tuesday’s game all right I think I’m going to wrap up this episode of the Fieldhouse files live postgame show I appreciate everybody for joining in here following the Pacers 116 103 win over the Knicks 33 series tie so it becomes the winner of Sunday’s game will decide who advances to the Eastern Conference Finals in Waiting of course is the Boston Celtics game on Sunday 3:30 Eastern on ABC and I’ll have another one of these live streams for you after the game right here on YouTube I appreciate all those who joined read my work both about the Pacers and lately a lot of Caitlyn Clark fever coverage as well because there is so much interest in that especially right here on YouTube thanks again for everyone joining me here live or on the replay and I will talk to you again coming up on Sunday have a great night everyone
