NEW YORK — The “Let’s go, Knicks!” chants bubbled up from the stairwells long before tip-off, before the plastic bracelets given to each of the 19,812 fans in the building flashed blue and orange in time with music so loud you could feel the vibration in your sternum. The crowd was so rowdy Sunday afternoon for the first Game 7 at Madison Square Garden since 1995 that the floor of the upper deck swayed. The noise crested every time one of the New York Knicks’ battered players hit a three-pointer or grabbed a rebound, yet in the third quarter Myles Turner swore he could hear a pin drop.
The Indiana Pacers did what felt impossible at tip-off Sunday: They drained the most rollicking crowd in the NBA of its energy with a historic shooting performance in a 130-109 victory. They earned their first trip to the Eastern Conference finals since 2014 by shooting 67.1 percent, the highest field goal percentage in NBA playoff history — and that was after cooling off in the second half.
“I didn’t necessarily hear it, but I felt it,” Turner said when asked whether he could hear the sellout crowd’s cheers turn to groans of despair. “Energy is everything in these types of environments.”
With the top-seeded Boston Celtics up next, Indiana shocked New York by shooting 29 for 38 (76.3 percent) from the field and 8 for 12 (75 percent) from the three-point line before halftime in the greatest shooting half ever. Tyrese Haliburton, the two-time all-star who spent this season growing into the face of the franchise, led the way with 26 points for the game. Indiana’s Pascal Siakam, who arrived in a trade with Toronto in January, and Andrew Nembhard added 20 points each. Turner had 17 points, five rebounds and four blocks.
But the Pacers insisted their powerful offense wasn’t the root of their Game 7 win, which was their fourth victory in five games after they started the series in a 2-0 hole. Their record-setting shooting was a product of various elements finally coming together — experience, maturation, a commitment to turning around their defense and (most importantly Sunday) their energy.
Nailing the energy started with Indiana’s approach to the atmosphere at MSG. It would have been impossible to fabricate that much noise and distraction for the sake of the players’ preparation, but Coach Rick Carlisle has experience dating from his time as an Indiana assistant in the late 1990s, during the heyday of the Pacers-Knicks rivalry. He was deferential Sunday, telling reporters before the game that it was an honor to reach Game 7, especially in New York.
“This building has an energy that you must be mindful of and you must respect,” Carlisle said afterward. “I’ve seen too many wild things happen here over the years.”
Carlisle’s reverence met his own curmudgeonly competitiveness and the chip on his players’ shoulders to create what he called a kind of classy defiance. Defiant is the right word — try to pin the Pacers’ success in the second round on such flashy stats as their shooting percentage, which led the league this season, or their pace, which trailed only the Washington Wizards’, and they balk.
Crediting Haliburton for running up the score early is just too simple.
“When I play aggressive — and it seems to be the only thing anyone can talk about after every game — for me, aggression is not shots; it’s getting two feet in the paint,” Haliburton said. “I know it’s an old-school way of thinking, but the more that I can get downhill, it opens up everything for everybody else. Guys are making shots early, and I just continue to get to the paint as much as I can off [Turner’s and Siakam’s] ball screens.”
That aggression on offense allowed Indiana to get into its press and play stifling defense. Although Donte DiVincenzo had 39 points thanks to an eruption from the three-point line in the third quarter, the Pacers held firm against runs by the Knicks, who were relentless despite how beat up they were.
Forward OG Anunoby had missed the previous four games with a strained hamstring but started Sunday, only to play just five minutes after it was clear how limited he was. Swiss Army knife Josh Hart, who left Friday’s Game 6 with an abdominal injury, also was obviously struggling, but he played 36 minutes. The death knell came when Jalen Brunson left with a broken left hand with 3:02 left in the third quarter.
But the Pacers’ hot shooting should stave off any argument that they simply walked over a decimated opponent. Sunday was the culmination of a season’s work, one in which they have gone from an under-the-radar young team to the championship game of the inaugural in-season tournament to the East finals. The maturation process mattered.
“The biggest thing was experience. We have a lot of guys who hadn’t played high-level basketball games that matter,” Turner said. “In the in-season tournament, there was a heightened sense of urgency to all those games.”
The Pacers have the eyes of the NBA now, having dispatched the Knicks in front of the rowdiest crowd in the league, and the toughest team in the East is up next. How does Carlisle feel about it? Ask about his team’s offense and see what happens.
“[We] won this series with grit and guts and physical play,” he said. “Pressing 94 feet — and that’s how we beat Milwaukee [in the first round], too.”
He’s a little defiant.
