INDIANAPOLIS – This was the worst. Ever.
This was awful. This was embarrassing.
The Knicks scored eight points in the second quarter of their 88-79 loss to the Indiana Pacers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals last night in Conseco Fieldhouse. Eight.
“The bottom line is they outhustled us,” said Latrell Sprewell. “They outworked us. Everything we did to get the lead in the first quarter, we let it go like that.”
With that, Sprewell snapped his fingers. If only someone could snap their fingers or wave a wand and make the second quarter of last night’s game disappear.
It was the worst playoff quarter in Knicks history, any quarter. And, it was the worst second-quarter playoff performance in NBA history. Other teams have had worse scoring quarters, but not in the second.
“I thought we’d be able to come back in the second half,” said Knicks center Patrick Ewing. “The momentum swung and we just couldn’t get a handle on it.”
The momentum swung when coach Jeff Van Gundy went to his second unit. After the starters had opened a 32-17 lead on 63.2-percent shooting, the second unit started a slide that didn’t end until the horn sounded to end the half.
Pick a category, any category, and the Knicks were so bad it defied reason. They shot 12.5 percent, missing 14 of 16 shots, after hitting 63.2 percent of their shots in the first quarter. They committed four turnovers and had no assists. They were outrebounded 16-8.
They had just as many fouls (eight) as points. Eight was enough to turn a 32-17 first quarter lead into a 42-40 halftime deficit.
“To be blunt, the second unit stunk,” said backup point guard Chris Childs, who used a much stronger term. “We stunk. I played poorly. I blame myself.”
No one player can take the blame for such a debacle. Van Gundy went back to his starters but whatever heat they had generated in the first quarter had cooled.
After the worst playoff quarter in Knicks history, they could never rebound.
“It was a tale of two quarters,” said Charlie Ward.
A tale that will live in Knicks infamy.