On Sunday, a back and forth battle between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks will come to a head in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.<\/p>\n
With the opportunity to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, thus putting them on the doorstep of the NBA Finals, it\u2019s an exciting opportunity for both teams. As much of a toss-up as any series has been, predicting the game\u2019s outcome may be a fool\u2019s errand. That said, the uncertainty only adds to the intrigue behind a series that pits one of the most popular franchises in the NBA against one of the NBA\u2019s most popular players.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the matchup, several key Pacers spoke about the impending matchup and their expectations. As only half of their rotation has ever played in a Game 7, players like Tyrese Haliburton<\/a> can only offer an educated guess:<\/p>\n \u201cI expect probably the most unbelievable environment<\/a> I\u2019ve ever played an NBA game,\u201d Haliburton says of playing Game 7 at Madison Square Garden, per The Athletic\u2019s Eric Nehm:<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019re all excited to go. There\u2019s going to be a lot of energy in the building, from them and from us. And I think just weathering our emotions as much as we can.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t get too high. Don\u2019t get too low. It\u2019s going to be a game of runs.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cAnd, I mean, historically, me as a basketball watcher, (Game 7s) are always so ugly,\u201d Haliburton adds thoughtfully. \u201cSo I expect an ugly game and I expect whoever plays harder to win. And I\u2019m excited to be a part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n Pacers star Pascal Siakam<\/a> has played in two Game 7s, splitting them down the middle.<\/p>\n In 2019, Siakam\u2019s Toronto Raptors outlasted the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round, eventually winning the championship. The next year, his team lost to the Boston Celtics in the semifinals. Siakam averaged 12.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 1.0 steal per game in those contests, shooting 39.1 percent from the field and going 0-3 from 3. Suffice it to say, the Pacers will likely need more than that<\/a> from him on Sunday.<\/p>\n In this series, the 30-year-old is averaging 20.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 0.8 steals per game while shooting 52.7 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from 3.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s gonna take everything<\/a>,\u201d Siakam says of Game 7, per The Athletic\u2019s James Boyd. \u201cA lot of crazy stuff is gonna happen.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe just gotta stay within what we do\u2026 Come into the game with pure energy, just playing as hard as you can and staying together,\u201d he continues. \u201cI think that\u2019s what\u2019s most important.\u201d<\/p>\n Of the four guys in Indiana\u2019s rotation who have played in a Game 7, only two played substantial minutes: Siakam and Myles Turner<\/a>.<\/p>\n Aaron Nesmith<\/a> and T.J. McConnell<\/a> are the two that didn\u2019t. Nonetheless, from his observations, McConnell\u2019s takeaway is that the team that plays harder will win.<\/p>\n \u201cThe team that exerts the most energy and plays to exhaustion comes out on top and it\u2019s win or go home,\u201d remarks McConnell.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re not playing to exhaustion in this next game, why even go?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something that I feel like every player plays for; a Game 7,\u201d says the 32-year-old. \u201c\u2026We have to be more dialed in than any of have ever been before.\u201d<\/p>\n Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle has the most experience of them all. Among the most successful coaches in NBA history, Carlisle has led his teams to 15 playoff appearances. In four of those postseasons, his team found themselves in a Game 7. Carlisle went 2-2 in those do-or-die games, but hasn\u2019t won one since 2005.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the ultimate game,\u201d Carlisle says. \u201c…We\u2019ll do everything possible to get them ready. In Game 7s, it comes down to compete level and how well you\u2019re tied together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On Sunday, a back and forth battle between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks will come to a head in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. With the opportunity to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, thus putting them on the doorstep of the NBA Finals, it\u2019s an exciting opportunity for both teams. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":77991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1608,62,12,3],"tags":[596,1754,1208,3147,2607],"class_list":["post-77987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pacers","category-basketball","category-nba","category-knicks","category-news","tag-nba-playoffs","tag-pascal-siakam","tag-rick-carlisle","tag-tj-mcconnell","tag-tyrese-haliburton"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Third Time\u2019s the Charm<\/h3>\n
Elder Statesman Speaks Out<\/h3>\n
Can Carlisle End His Drought?<\/h3>\n