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Posted at 1:30 PM EST. Odds subject to change.

NBA Playoffs: Eastern Conference Seminfinals

Indiana Pacers @ New York Knicks

Madison Square Garden

Wager: Indiana +5

8:10 PM EST. Even in a loss, it was hard to not be impressed by the Indiana Pacers in Game 1. Like we predicted in our article on Monday and like the Pacers have done all season, the underdogs forced the Knicks to take on their style of play, running up and down the court with high-octane offense and relentless pursuit to the rim. For the most part, it worked. Indiana held a 55-49 lead at halftime, as well as a lead heading into the fourth quarter. Then Jalen Brunson happened, yet again. Brunson came into the final quarter with just 22 points, a low mark considering how prolific he's been in the postseason, but ended up finishing with 43 points on 14-26 from the field. The former Villanova guard went off on the Pacers' defense, a group that didn't seem to have an answer for his high-energy dribbling and fearless shooting, elements that have become trademarks of the Jalen Brunson experience. 

Even with Brunson's superstar performance late in the contest, Indiana kept answering back, refusing to let the home-team create separation as the Madison Square Garden crowd became louder and more raucous. The Pacers even held a 2-point lead with just 1:33 left in the game, but some more magic from Brunson and the Villanova trio of Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo alonside their star guard put the Knicks in a two-score lead in the final seconds, sealing a Game 1 victory for the favorites. New York won, but they didn't cover.

And it's important to note just how successful the Pacers' offense was in one of the toughest environments to win, against one of the NBA's toughest defenses. Indiana was just "okay" from beyond the arc, going 10-26, but they shot  an incredible 36-62 (58%) from two-point land, likely taking full advantage of a Knicks' squad without big-man Mitchell Robinson, who only played 12 minutes before getting injured. But don't be fooled - the Knicks are plenty good defensively even without Robinson, an exceptional rim protector that they missed for the majority of the regular season. New York was a top-10 defense all year, with tenacious, physical guys like Josh Hart and Isaiah Hartenstein and OG Anunoby representing Tom Thibodeau's blue-collar culture in ideal fashion. It still didn't matter against Indiana. Six different Pacers' scored in the double-digits on Monday, clearly a high-chemistry program that's been the NBA's best scoring-offense not-named the Boston Celtics all season. Perhaps if they hit a few more threes - Indiana hit 38.5% in Game 1, New York hit 47.8% - oddsmakers would be looking at this spread differently.

But that didn't happen. The Knicks survived, thanks to another all-world performance from Jalen Brunson and one of the grittiest games we've ever seen from Josh Hart, who simply did everything for his team (24 points, 13 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals and a block in Game 1). Still, it's clear that these two programs are more even than thy are disparate. Sportsbooks won't make Indiana any less than a 4-5 point underdog for obvious reasons. A New York City crowd in the playoffs is different, we all know that and it makes for great TV, but the Indiana Pacers are no slouches. They've been in tough environments plenty this season, and all they've done is score, score some more, and find ways to wins games. It wouldn't be shocking at all if they tied the series tonight, thus the direction of our wager. Get your popcorn ready!

Farley

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