The first quarter was all about the one-on-one matchup, and so was the second.
Late in the third quarter, Su Xi saw the team was down by eight. He gave the signal: it was time for his teammates to get tactical.
The moment the Pacers got serious, the Knicks buckled.
Stephon Marbury was seeing stars after running into the Pacers' iron wall of a perimeter trio, and his offensive efficiency plummeted. At the same time, the Knicks' other "lone wolf," Jamal Crawford, also went into iso mode. He's one of the NBA's ultimate streaky shooters. When he's hot, he can drop forty or fifty points in a game, even sixty.
But tonight, he clearly couldn't get hot.
The Pacers had him completely locked down.
Halfway through the fourth quarter, the Pacers were up by 15.
The Knicks were powerless to fight back and basically surrendered, lest the deficit grow even larger and the final score become embarrassing.
With the Knicks throwing in the towel, the Pacers were content to let them off easy.
