NBA Matchups: May 29

Indiana Pacers at New York Knicks

Team Totals: Pacers 109.3, Knicks 113.8

Injury Report: Isaiah Jackson (O, Achilles), Aaron Nesmith (Q, ankle), Karl-Anthony Towns (Q, knee)

Pacers projected starters: Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner

Knicks projected starters: Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns (Note: I don’t think Mitchell Robinson starts again)

Offensive Ranks: Pacers 10th, Knicks 5th
Defensive Ranks: Pacers 13th, Knicks 12th 

Carlisle quotes: Said some of the shotmaking has been unbelievable, said he’s proud of Mathurin for staying ready and they needed him in Game 4, said it’s not about stats and it’s all about the team, said they were determined to turn things around in Game 4 after the bad Game 3, said Mathurin is always ready to play, said maybe Jarace Walker could even play (he was just talking about depth, doubt he plays in Game 5), said Siakam “made timely play after timely play” for them, said he was really concerned with Nesmith’s ankle and it helped that he didn’t have to travel, said Nesmith was determined to play and “he’ll work hard to stay ready” for Game 5, said Haliburton throwing the ball ahead was a nice component to their offense, said he’s tired of talking about individual stats and it’s a team game.

Thibs quotes: Said their turnovers really hurt them and it caused a slow start in the first, said they knew it was going to be a fast game and they hurt themselves with turnovers, said it was a good sign that KAT was able to go back in after hurting his knee late in the game (the play that was challenged when Turner bumped into him), said they went to Shamet for shooting and more size than Deuce.

Stats and notes:

*Tyrese Haliburton was the story for Game 4 and we’ll get to him, but the Pacers just coasted on offense to take a commanding 3-1 lead. In Game 4, the Indiana halfcourt offense increased to 112.6 for their best game of this series, and Indiana had by far their highest transition frequency in Game 4 at 17.5%. Their transition frequency has increased in every game this series (9.4% G1, 12.5% G2, 13.8% G3), while they have been exceptional at keeping the Knicks out of transition at just 9.9% for the series. The Pacers are controlling this series in basically every aspect besides rebounding, and they set the tone early with 12 fast-break points in the first quarter (finished game 22-9 for fast-break points). The Pacers also killed the Knicks at the basket on both ends with Indiana making 19-of-25 at the rim while the Knicks were 13-of-24. Indiana also somehow scored 16 second-chance points on just five offensive rebounds. Plus, the Knicks haven’t been able to generate enough easy shots in this series, and the Pacers are beating them 71-34 for wide-open 3PAs. This thing might be over tonight.