
NEW YORK — The Indiana Pacers performed their worst offensive sport of the postseason in Thursday night time's 111-94 loss to the New York Knicks, however regardless of lacking an opportunity to shut out the collection, star guard Tyrese Haliburton emphasised there was "no have to panic."
"We're a resilient group," Haliburton stated after the sport. "We all the time wish to reply when issues don't go properly after a sport like that. We perceive what the stakes are. … We're high quality. There's no have to panic or something."
The Pacers nonetheless lead the collection 3-2, with Sport 6 on Saturday night time in Indianapolis.
Indiana by no means led in Sport 5 as New York pulled off a wire-to-wire victory with its season on the road. In the meantime, the Pacers' offense by no means acquired began. Their beginning 5 mixed for simply 37 factors, the second-fewest by a crew in a sport this postseason, and as a crew the Pacers had 20 turnovers, their most in a sport throughout these playoffs.
Thursday's loss additionally marked the primary time this postseason that the Pacers had been held to underneath 100 factors.
"To begin the sport, we simply didn't have the fitting degree of drive, the fitting degree of angle obligatory on this setting," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle stated. "It was a nasty begin; we by no means had a lead within the sport. There have been a mess of issues that had been going flawed. There have been stretches within the sport the place we acquired just a little little bit of traction, however by no means sufficient."
Bennedict Mathurin scored a team-high 23 factors off the bench, and Pascal Siakam led the starters in scoring with 15. HoweverObi Toppin, who had11 factors off the bench, was the one otherPacers participant in double figures.
After placing up a historic stat line in Sport 4, Haliburton struggled to remain concerned on offense Thursday night time, scoring eight factors on 2-of-7 capturing with six assists. His seven shot makes an attempt had been his fewest in any sport this postseason, and he scored or assisted on 24% (23 of 94) of the Pacers' factors, in keeping with ESPN Analysis. In Video games 1-4, Haliburton scored or assisted on 41% of his crew's factors.
"I acquired to be higher, and I'll be higher in Sport 6," Haliburton stated. "We acquired to be higher as a bunch. Our tempo needs to be higher. That begins with me. I acquired to be higher there. As a bunch we've proven that we will have some success this playoffs. This was a tough exhibiting for us tonight. So we'll watch the movie, see the place we will get higher and be nice."
The Pacers acknowledge the Knicks established themselves because the extra aggressive crew in Sport 5, bu they’ve prided themselves on responding after losses this postseason. Ahead Aaron Nesmith didn’t mince wordswhen requested how the Pacers get their depth again for Sport 6.
"You get punched within the face like this," he stated. "Generally you bought to lose to get higher. That's what occurred at the moment."
Figuring out they had been returning house with a 3-2 collection lead was a giant cause why the Pacers weren’t discouraged regardless of Thursday's loss. Indiana has not dropped back-to-back video games since March, and Siakam stated he was trying ahead to an opportunity to bounce again at house.
"You're going to have unhealthy video games," Siakam stated. "That is the NBA, and there's going to be occasions the place a crew goes to play onerous. In truth, they're going to beat you.
"It’s simply all about us, man. It's all the time been us in opposition to the world, and I don't count on it to alter. … We’re 3-2 in a collection and we now have a possibility to return house and present what we're manufactured from."
