How Indy is exploiting New York's defense, plus more intel from the East finals

There are plentifulness of reasons down the Indiana Pacers' 3-1 bid pb implicit the New York Knicks heading into Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals Thursday. One stands supra the rest:

In a matchup featuring All-NBA constituent guards Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Haliburton, determination has been nary question astir which of the 2 has been much impactful. (Hint: It's the feline who had 1 of the astir awesome violative performances successful playoff past successful a triumph that moved the Pacers 1 triumph from their archetypal Finals since 2000.)

"His quality to play some connected and disconnected the shot is truthful unique," a Western Conference enforcement said of Haliburton, who successful Game 4 became the archetypal subordinate successful playoff past with 30 points, 15 assists, 10 rebounds and zero turnovers since turnovers were archetypal tracked successful 1977-78.

"It allows him to beryllium Steph Curry-esque."

Haliburton has a mode to spell to lucifer the myriad accomplishments Curry has stacked up, including 2 MVPs, 4 titles and much 3-pointers than immoderate subordinate successful league history. But whenever Curry is connected the floor, defenses are perpetually being stressed by the menace helium poses from anyplace connected the court.

Haliburton astatine the controls of this Pacers' discourtesy often leaves defenses with a likewise gangly task. That's successful portion due to the fact that Haliburton, dissimilar however Brunson and the Knicks' discourtesy operates, is the person of what often is an adjacent accidental violative engine.

"[Haliburton is] throwing it ahead, playing retired of dribble handoffs, moving pick-and-rolls, truthful helium gets everyone involved," a Western Conference scout said. "So [Aaron] Nesmith is throwing himself into defence due to the fact that helium knows he's going to get touches and shots.

"I didn't deliberation [Haliburton] had this leap successful him. He's shown truthful overmuch much conscionable due to the fact that helium makes his teammates better. Those guys person each been enactment successful positions to succeed. All these guys are the champion versions of themselves present due to the fact that they person been instilled with assurance and optimized."

Coaches, scouts and executives universally praised Brunson successful this series. But his gaudy idiosyncratic numbers -- 33.3 points and 5.5 assists connected 48% shooting -- are somewhat overshadowed by 4 turnovers per game, astir 3 times arsenic galore arsenic Haliburton.

For arsenic overmuch arsenic the Knicks person relied connected the NBA's Clutch Player of the Year this season, that crippled program makes the Knicks a spot easier to hole for passim a seven-game series.

"I emotion Brunson. But I'm not definite you tin triumph with a shot ascendant subordinate similar him," the West enforcement said.

"There's a ceiling for however acold helium tin instrumentality you due to the fact that you person to play the mode helium plays," the scout said. "Those guys request a circumstantial subordinate adjacent to them."

That was 1 takeaway that coaches, scouts and executives gave ESPN this week astir these breathtaking Eastern Conference finals. Here are a fewer more, positive an aboriginal look astatine the Oklahoma City Thunder juggernaut facing whichever East squad reaches the NBA Finals.

The Pacers springiness you obscurity to attack

play

2:46

Pacers enactment Knicks connected the brink with gritty Game 4 win

The Pacers are 1 triumph distant from the NBA Finals aft handling the Knicks astatine location with a 130-121 triumph successful Game 4.

Over the people of an 82-game regular season, the astir palmy crippled program is leveraging your idiosyncratic strengths to overwhelm your opponent. With teams lacking the mentation clip to drill down connected a circumstantial hostile due to the fact that of the never-ending grind of the schedule, leaning into what works is often capable to stack up plentifulness of regular-season victories.

The playoffs crook that mentation connected its head. Instead, winning often depends connected minimizing weaknesses and not giving your hostile immoderate lineups holes to exploit.

And, beyond Haliburton's idiosyncratic brilliance, it has been his supporting formed that repeatedly came up successful conversations astir the Pacers, and peculiarly with their starting unit: Indiana has surrounded its prima with 4 players -- Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner -- each supra mean defenders who tin abstraction the floor.

"The Pacers, they're inactive astonishing me," a scout said. "Not that they've had success, but however are they doing this? They tin travel astatine you successful truthful galore antithetic ways and they're truthful coagulated everywhere.

"They don't person immoderate weaknesses."

One happening that's been peculiarly evident during this playoff run, arsenic Indiana has dispatched the Milwaukee Bucks, the Cleveland Cavaliers and are connected the verge of doing the aforesaid to the Knicks, is that the Pacers' Haliburton-led five-out spacing -- and peculiarly shooting threats astatine powerfulness guardant (Siakam) and astatine halfway (Turner) -- could beryllium bending Eastern Conference defenses to its volition for years.

"Assuming they bring backmost Myles, they're specified a implicit team," an adjunct manager said. "And they person size and physicality astatine each position. And it's sustainable due to the fact that of the deals they person everyone signed to."

Every starter too Turner is nether declaration for astatine slightest the adjacent 2 seasons, and the squad has power implicit astir of its 2nd unit.

New York's biggest weakness has been exploited

play

1:01

Thibs wants Knicks to 'reset' aft Game 4 loss

Knicks manager Tom Thibodeau shares his connection to his squad aft losing to the Pacers successful Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals.

While this bid evidently would look antithetic if the Knicks hadn't suffered their historical illness successful Game 1, what's been inarguable is that the operation of Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns has been a weakness the Pacers person been capable to repeatedly attack. Brunson, per GeniusIQ tracking, was the defender connected 25 screens successful New York's Game 4 nonaccomplishment erstwhile Haliburton was the shot handler -- the astir on-ball screens defended by a subordinate against Haliburton successful a playoff crippled successful his career.

As large of a play arsenic Brunson has had, it's besides inarguable that New York's lone 2 large runs successful the 4th fourth successful this bid -- successful Games 1 and 3 -- came with Brunson connected the bench, which meant that the operation of helium and Towns were not retired determination together, giving Haliburton and the Pacers an evident people successful pick-and-roll actions.

Pacers manager Rick Carlisle hinted arsenic overmuch aft Game 3, saying that New York's "better antiaircraft players" were connected the court.

"If you're going to play a shooting 5 [in Turner] and you're going to person Towns and Brunson retired determination together," an adjunct manager said, "it's going to beryllium tough."

New York has 2 All-NBA players successful Brunson and Towns, a trio of bully helping players successful Hart, Anunoby and Bridges astir them and a mates of bully reserves successful Miles McBride and Mitchell Robinson, who entered the starting lineup for Hart opening with Game 3.

But the circumstantial strengths and weaknesses of this Knicks roster person struggled to support up with the equilibrium that Indiana plays with, and that has enactment New York successful the presumption it finds itself in.

"They've overachieved," an enforcement said of the Knicks. "I ne'er loved their team. I deliberation there's a ceiling with Brunson [and] they overpaid for Mikal [in the commercialized past summer]. OG has been awesome, but he's constricted successful what helium tin do.

"They're the amended postulation of parts, but it fits amended for Indy and the benignant of play works better."

Trouble awaits retired West

play

2:28

Thunder cruise past Wolves to clinch Western Conference finals

The Thunder stroke past the Timberwolves successful Game 5 of the Western Conference finals to scope their archetypal NBA Finals since 2012.

Whether New York tin propulsion disconnected a occurrence 3-1 comeback oregon Indiana closes it out, a Herculean task awaits either team: Slow down the 68-win Thunder, who perfectly dismantled the Minnesota Timberwolves connected Wednesday nighttime to scope the NBA Finals for the 2nd clip successful franchise past and the archetypal clip since 2012.

Back then, it appeared to beryllium the archetypal of galore Finals trips for OKC down the trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. That unsocial should supply immoderate caution astir penning successful the Thunder arsenic the favourite for the adjacent respective years successful the West. But that's astir the lone crushed to consciousness that mode aft watching 1 of the league's youngest teams continually amended arsenic the playoffs person progressed.

"Game 4 sent the biggest connection to the remainder of the league," a scout said of Oklahoma City's bounce-back triumph successful Minnesota connected Monday night. "I saw it and I'm frightened [for the future]. Because they're good, and they're going to be. That was the infinitesimal wherever it was like, "OK, they're good."

The different reason, successful the eyes of rival scouts and executives, was that Oklahoma City not lone survived a seven-game bid against three-time MVP Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, but it did truthful aft escaping Game 5 via a furious fourth-quarter rally.

"I expect them to triumph it each now," different scout said. "There's been immoderate uncertainty due to the fact that of the mean worldly astir young teams having to 'go done it.' But particularly erstwhile they got done Denver, and took down the champion subordinate connected the planet, present you expect them to fig it out."