The New York Knicks' thrilling season ended with a thud on Sunday, as they lost a Game 7 to the Indiana Pacers, 130-109.
The game saw the Pacers get red-hot on the offensive end, as they hit 67% of their shots and 54% of their threes, answering every Knicks run with their own to widen the scoring margin.
The game also saw the Knicks battle injuries even further. OG Anunoby, who had missed the previous four games with a hamstring injury, started the game and hit his first two shots, but was noticeably limping up and down the court. He subbed out after five minutes and did not return.
Josh Hart, who was battling an abdominal strain and was questionable before the game, was largely a non-factor. And Jalen Brunson, who had dragged the Knicks on his back with five 40-plus point games in the postseason, broke his hand in the second half and did not return.
In some ways, it was a fitting end to the Knicks' season: the Knicks were already playing without Julius Randle, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Mitchell Robinson in this series. The Knicks just could not get healthy in the second half of the year to see what the team could do at full strength.
After the game, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau praised his team's fight, but gave a sad acknowledgment of how the injuries had piled up.
"I thought guys gave everything they had and that's all you can ask," Thibodeau said. "It was a battle all year and there was nothing left to give."
Randle did not play after January with a dislocated shoulder. Anunoby missed considerable time with bone spurs in his elbow. Robinson got ankle surgery, returned late in the year, but re-injured his ankle and had to get surgery again after Game 1. Bogdanovic got hurt in Game 4 against the 76ers in the first round and did not play again.
By Games 6 and 7 against the Pacers, the Knicks, to put in plainly, just didn't have "it." Shots fell short, the Pacers drove past them with ease and got 50-50 balls. It seemed as if every break went Indiana's way. The Knicks' legs certainly were not there.
Thibodeau continued after the game, listing the Knicks' injuries, and saying the fight they showed gives him "peace of mind."
"The only thing you can ask for is everyone puts forth their best effort," Thibodeau said. "And we got that all year from these guys. And the other thing that goes with that is peace of mind in knowing that you did your best. That's all you can ask for. A lot of teams, I think, would have folded. They didn't. We took the hit with Mitch, then you add in Julius and OG, your starting front line. Then [Bogdanovic] goes out. It was hit after hit, but these guys never folded. They kept fighting. That's all you can ask for."
The Knicks now enter an offseason with two big priorities: re-sign Anunoby and Isaiah Hartenstein, both of whom figure to command big contracts. The Knicks may also seek out another star player, but it could be argued that they have enough to contend already if they are healthy.
