A shocking reversal! How magical is Carlisle this season?

East Final G1, the Pacers defeated the Knicks 138-135 away.

No exaggeration, this may be the most explosive and best-looking game this year's playoffs. The two teams polished the entire three quarters. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Pacers suddenly broke off the power. They were 92-94 behind 2 points 10 minutes before the remaining 6 minutes, and 17 points behind 97-114.

When I saw this, many fans thought that the Knicks were sure to win. Until less than 1 minute left, the Knicks still led by 9 points 121-112. No matter how you look at it, this victory should belong to the Knicks.

However, the Pacers disagreed. In the last minute, Nesmith scored three consecutive three-pointers, Halliburton drew in overtime at the extreme buzzer, and then successfully defeated the Knicks in overtime to complete a shocking reversal.

It is not too much to describe this reversal as a shocking one. Three minutes left in the fourth quarter of this game, the Pacers were still 14 points behind 105-119, but in the end they took away the victory. What is the roughly concept of

? In the past 27 years, there have been 970 playoffs in the last 3 minutes and 14 points behind in the last 3 minutes. No team completed the reversal, and today's Pacers became the first team.

and, there is also a data like this: since the 1996-97 season, the teams who fell 7 points or more in the last 50 seconds of the playoffs, with a total of 4 wins and 1,702 losses, of which 3 of them came from this year's Pacers.

In these three games, many fans should be familiar with: G5 against the Bucks in the first round, G2 against the Cavaliers in the second round, and G1 against the Knicks in the East Finals.

Interestingly, Halliburton stood up in the end in these three games:

—G5 in the first round, Halliburton pulled up and layup,

—G2 in the second round, Halliburton defeated the sky 1+3,

—G1 in the Eastern Conference Finals, Halliburton crossed the line and tied with two points, buzzer-beating

Yes, this is Halliburton this year.

Since the playoffs, Halliburton's data averaged 18.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game, 48.1%/33.8%/78.9% of the three events, 59.6% of the real shooting percentage, and only 2.1 turnovers.

Only looking at personal offense, objectively speaking, Halliburton's production is not high, and his specialty three-point shooting percentage is much lower than that of the regular season (38.8%).

But Halliburton's strength is that he always stands up when he needs him.

For example, in this game, Halliburton played a total of 42 minutes, made 12 of 23 shots, 4 of 12 of 3-pointers, 3 of 4 free throws, scored 31 points, 4 rebounds and 11 assists, and his plus-negative value reached +15, the highest in the team.

Also, in the second round of G5, the Pacers advanced to the game. Halliburton played 36 minutes in the game, made 10 of 15 shots, 6 of 10 three-pointers, 5 of 6 free throws, scored 31 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists, plus or negative value +27, the highest in the team (the Pacers only won 9 points in this game).

The decisive moment is the finale, and we all know that the Knicks have this season's key player of the year, whose performance in the playoffs this year also deserves the honor.

However, Halliburton's performance at a critical moment in the playoffs this year was also a cheating level: with 1 minute left, the difference between 3 points, Halliburton made a total of 4 of 5 shots and scored 12 points.

As for this game, the Pacers still have two players that cannot be ignored.

The first is Nesmith, who made 9 of 13 shots and 8 of 9 three-pointers, scoring 30 points. The Pacers went from 17 points behind to tie, Nesmith scored the first merit.

He scored 20 points in the fourth quarter, and in the end he scored three points in a row, he should have been stunned by many fans - this is the first time in the history of the playoffs that he has 6 three-pointers in the last quarter, and it is also a witness to history.

The second is Nembhard. Nembhard made 6 of 10 shots, 2 of 3 three-pointers, scored 15 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

At the end of the regular time, Nembhard scored only 8 points, but in the key overtime, he scored 7 points and 1 assist, including a key three-pointer, and a key all-match dunk to Toppen.

and, there is another one that must not be ignored: Carlisle.

There are so many highlights in this game:

- Both challenges were used at critical moments, and all succeeded

- Lagging behind Shepard in the last quarter, opening up space, locking Brunson

- Trust Nesmith's touch, the latter lived up to expectations and scored three-pointers in a row

There is another one that must be taken out and said separately, with 0.2 seconds left in overtime, the Pacers led by 3 points, and then Carlisle paused and arranged a tactic, allowing Halliburton to send the ball to Towns.

According to NBA rules, the shooting was not completed with the remaining 0.2 seconds, so he could only catch the goal with an alibi, so even if Towns scored a very long three-pointer in the end, it was invalid. This wave should have been stunned by many fans at that time, but in fact, Carlisle had understood the rules thoroughly.

Of course, it is the players who decide the game, but this Pacers are really different. Carlisle's influence is so unique.

The biggest feature of the Pacers this year's playoffs is multiplayer rotation. Even on a stage like the Eastern Conference Finals, it still insists on 10-player rotation, which is completely different from Thibodeau's 7 or 8-player rotation.

This is the Pacers this year. In terms of the five-man lineup, the Knicks may be stronger, but the Pacers have 8 players who averaged more than 8 points in the playoffs. They do not hold the ball, insist on everyone having the ball, and always maintain the ball sense of each player. This is why Nesmith's last consecutive three-pointers and Nembhard's overtime performance. The Pacers may be the least favored of the remaining four teams, but in fact they are the most unnegligible. Their regular season record after 2025 is fourth in the league, second only to the Thunder, Celtics and Cavaliers, and two of the first three teams have been eliminated.

The point is that the Pacers not only have Harry who is good at playing key balls, but also have strong rotation and bench depth, as well as Carlisle, the most capable coach among the remaining coaches, was not optimistic about the Mavericks in 2011, but they won the championship that year, and it is really not impossible for the Pacers this year.