Tuesday night featured a pair of Game twos in the second round of the NBA Playoffs. The New York Knicks evened up their series with the Indiana Pacers with a dominant performance in the fourth quarter, while the Memphis Grizzlies used a late run to tie their series with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Here’s a recap of the night’s action.
New York uses fourth quarter to pull away from Indiana, winning 105-79
For three quarters this game appeared as it would go down to the wire. But with their backs against the wall, the New York Knicks pulled away from the Indiana Pacers to win 105-79, tying up the series.
The Knicks took a slim six-point lead into the last quarter, but blew open the contest shortly thereafter. New York used an impressive 19-0 run to start the fourth to win the game. To say Indiana went cold would be a severe understatement. The Pacers came off the bench and promptly missed their first ten shots. Indiana didn’t even get their first points in the quarter until a pair of Tyler Hansbrough field goals with just under five minutes to play.
Clearly frustrated, Indiana head coach Frank Vogel yanked all five of his starters near the midway point in the half with the team down by 24 points. The bench rewarded the move, scoring 13 points the rest of the way, but by then it was far too late.
The fourth quarter will be the topic widely discussed on Wednesday, but another factor? Turnovers. Indiana was plagued by 21 of them, leading to a whopping 32 points for New York. Meanwhile, the Knicks had only a total of six. It’s difficult to overcome that type of disparity – especially when playing on the road.
There’s no doubt that Indiana is disappointed with the loss. That’s particularly true considering the game was a close one for three quarters. But to come into the Garden and take one game from the No. 2 seed will make heading back home a bit easier.
Leading the way for the Knicks was Carmelo Anthony with 32 points and nine rebounds. Paul George had 20 points in defeat for the Pacers.
The teams will now get three days off before playing Game 3 on Saturday.
Memphis evens series with Oklahoma City with 99-93 victory
The Memphis Grizzles broke down in a Game 1 loss to Oklahoma City over the weekend after holding a late lead. But on Tuesday, they made key plays down the stretch to snatch home court advantage from the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with a 99-93 win.
Down 90-89 with two minutes left in the game, the Grizzlies went on a 10-0 run to close out the game and tie the series with the Thunder. The series will head to Memphis for Game 3 on Saturday.
This game was the antithesis of Game 1 for the two teams. Instead of folding late, Memphis made several big shots in the final minutes. Oklahoma City, meanwhile, made only one of their final five attempts. Missed shots by the team’s star, Kevin Durant, turnovers, and offensive fouls contributed to the Grizzlies’ win.
Durant wasn’t the only player to disappear at the end for the Thunder. Reserve guard Derek Fisher, who had a great overall game with 19 points, faded in the fourth quarter. He was only 1-3 in the final period, his only points coming on a meaningless three-pointer at the buzzer. But just as important, Fisher had two key offensive fouls in the last 30 seconds when the team was trying to mount a comeback. The veteran has had more good postseason games than bad, but when the Thunder needed him late, he made some critical mistakes.
Mike Conley and Kevin Durant were the stars of the night for their respective teams. Durant had 36 points while Conley led Memphis with 26. But each did more than simply score points as they both fell just short of a triple double with nine assists apiece.
The game was marred by fouls with ten players racking up at least three personals in the game. That led to an incredible 59 free throw attempts and tended to bog things down at times. But Memphis will surely take the win no matter the style of play.
