Pacers adapt to persist, force Game 7 (Patreon)

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

At first glace, "adapt" and "persist" may seem to run at cross-purposes. To adapt is generally synonymous with a readiness to change, whereas persistence is indictive of an indomitable will to press forward. And yet, the Pacers demonstrated a necessary mixture of both in Game 6. With Tyrese Haliburton being hounded by Deuce McBride for a second game in a row, Myles Turner could, in turn, be seen setting multiple screens in a row -- persisting in his efforts to enable Haliburton to play through the re-screen with at least some degree of separation. Likewise, Pascal Siakam was a force of nature, establishing early position against mismatches and, at times, posting multiple times within the same possession, just as Aaron Nesmith was also crashing from the perimeter to keep key possessions alive. In that sense, the effort for the Pacers wasn't just limited to the glass, where they narrowly edged out the Knicks in the offensive rebounding battle; it was also evident throughout other forms of second efforts -- especially by comparison to Game 5, when they ultimately found out that adaptability without persistence can't last, let alone thrive.

In the reverse, however, the same can be said of persistence without adaptability. When New York started the game targeting Tyrese Haliburton once again as the screener defender, the Pacers adapted the match-ups, swapping Pascal Siakam's length onto McBride, with Haliburton instead having less ground to cover against Josh Hart. Those types of in-game adjustments, along with the the game-to-game changes, from being considerably more aggressive helping from the ball-side corner against Jalen Brunson to force-feeding more of the action through Siakam (and inverted actions for Siakam), the Pacers ultimately forced a Game 7 both by persisting to adapt and adapting to persist.

As such, with this series also continuing to persist, Samson Folk is back to persist in our collaboration together, returning once again to discuss everything that changed for the Pacers in Game 6, while also looking ahead to Sunday's Game 7.

Here are the relevant timestamps:

0:00 - Introductions

3:04 - Siakam setting the tone

5:30 - Haliburton-Siakam two-man game progressions

15:47 - Key defensive adjustment following a second-quarter timeout

25:02 - Changes in coverage against Jalen Brunson

30:37 - Altering the shot chart against the Knicks

41:32 - New York's move to cross-match Hartenstein onto Siakam

43:48 - Potential for Myles Turner to pop off in Game 7

45:08 - Winning non-Haliburton and non-Siakam minutes

51:07 - Heyyy, do you like T-shirts?

54:11 - Thank you and Goodbye