Hibbert’s play sets new terms of engagement for Pacers
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Correspondent
INDIANAPOLIS – Roy Hibbert sat at the podium, joking about the postgame limelight being foreign territory and a place where teammates and PR officials begged him not to make a fashion statement. Wearing a scholarly vest, Hibbert laughingly showed off the monocle he brought with him and begrudgingly didn’t wear.
But Hibbert’s night was deadly serious and he stood out literally and figuratively for all the reasons the Pacers were so strong this season – an onslaught of second chances fueled by Hibbert’s awareness on the offensive glass and a relentless physicality and toughness on the defensive end.
Carmelo Anthony even read Hibbert’s numbers aloud from the box score, since Hibbert had 24 points and shot 9-of-18 on a night so few players could shoot straight. Indiana’s grinding formula to beat New York in Game 3, 82-71, was essentially the best proof to date that Hibbert is worth the big dollars the Pacers are paying him – if not that he’s the top player on the team, period.
He had his way, said New York coach Mike Woodson, knowing that deafening reality was also true on a team-wide level. Third-seeded Indiana now leads the best-of-seven two games to one, with Game 4 Tuesday night in Indianapolis.
The vehicle of choice in this game was a suffocating defensive performance that allowed the Knicks just four points in a 6:10 stretch of the third quarter. Hibbert and the Pacers made mincemeat of the league’s leading scorer, Anthony, for that entire span, and all Hibbert did was outscore the game’s leading scorer 15-8 in the second half.
When Anthony returned to the game with 10:49 left in the fourth quarter, he had six field goals and the Knicks trailed by nine.
And 9:02 later, when he departed for good, Anthony still had six field goals and his team was behind 15.
On the most important night of the Pacers’ season, Hibbert took over the game. Indiana wasn’t lighting up the scoreboard as it had in three prior home playoff games, in part because the plague of turnovers continued, but Hibbert’s rebounding was so overpowering it didn’t matter.
It was difficult for Tyson Chandler to get in front of Hibbert, let alone catch the ball. Hibbert made four baskets as a direct result of offensive rebounds, and made two free throws on another play because of his pre-carom positioning. Fittingly, that play came late in the fourth quarter when Chandler didn’t even look for the ball and picked up his fifth foul throwing a frustrated arm into Hibbert’s back. Chandler had already tangled with Hibbert in the third quarter, upon which he promptly unleashed his anger on the officials and treated the assembled masses to a Josh Smith Memorial Foul and Successive Technical.
What also defined the game was a strange role reversal. While New York wasn’t even taking 3s, the Pacers were bombing away – nine of their first 17 attempts came from behind the arc, and they wound up with a season-high 33, many of which were free and easy looks as a result of New York’s rotating, sagging defense.
The Knicks’ effort from downtown: 3-of-11. One lone make by Anthony in the first half. A buzzer-beating miracle from Amar’e Stoudemire to close the third. And a meaningless conversion by Chris Copeland in the final minute.
Those are season-lows in makes and attempts, for those scoring at home. Incredible.
The league’s top perimeter attack was totally missing from the game.
We weren’t even looking at the 3, Woodson said.
That’s what they were giving us, said Woodson’s counterpart, Frank Vogel. I don’t like taking 33 3s. But I thought about 25 of them were wide-open.
And with the Pacers draining 10 treys, accounting for 30 of their 82 points, and the Knicks scoring just nine points from the 3-pointer, an ugly contest in which both offenses floundered became one-sided simply because of the swapped identities. Indiana nearly matched a franchise record for fewest points allowed in an NBA playoff game. Only Copeland’s 3 prevented that satisfaction.
We did a good job forcing them to drive, said David West, whose 11-point, 12-rebound double-double included five offensive rebounds; he also spent much of the night guarding one of New York’s long-range weapons, Iman Shumpert.
I just feel we can compete with this team when we’re not giving them attempts. Tonight we were in the mix (on the perimeter). We don’t want them in the flow. We’re focused on the way they’re moving and some of the actions they’re using to get their guys involved. We’re sticking to what we know and that’s our defense.
Of course, it wasn’t just Hibbert and the gap in 3-point attempts. There were other big developments that helped give the series a Pacers feel.
For one thing, Paul George provided some desperately needed distribution in the form of eight assists. Even better were his five steals against a ball-control New York offense, with three of them proving fruitful in terms of producing Pacers points.
George also continues to do fine work on Anthony, a defensive maneuver by Indiana’s coaches that figured to allow Anthony to pick up a few buckets from the post in exchange for less penetration and fewer jump shots. But the Pacers aren’t even conceding that much. Anthony shot twice inside of five feet Saturday. George stood his ground most notably on one play in the first quarter where Anthony tried to back him down, couldn’t advance and eventually lost the ball and was forced to go retrieve it. Meanwhile, the Knicks failed to attack the other side of the coin in that matchup. With the bigger West on Shumpert, New York struggled to capitalize.
Elsewhere, George Hill is the same size as Raymond Felton and that worked out just as well for the Pacers; Felton was very good in the first two games but was 1-for-8 with three turnovers Saturday. Hill scored 17 points and finished a +14 on the night; the Pacers hope his 3-point stroke carries over to Game 4.
I tried to shoot with a high level of confidence, said Hill, who jumped in for six rebounds, too. I can make the shots. My teammates told me to keep shooting. The more aggressive I can be, the better off our team is.
From the Knicks’ side, Woodson, three games into the series, still has not found a way to make use of Copeland and Steve Novak, depriving the lineup of perhaps its two best knockdown shooters. Evidently Woodson feels Indiana’s big lineups would expose their limited strength and mobility.
When all is said and done, though, the Pacers owe this pivotal swing in the series to the monstrous excellence of Hibbert much as their two-year ascent to the upper crust of the Eastern Conference coincides with Hibbert’s improvement and blossoming.
We know he’s going to dominate on the defensive end, said Vogel. When he has offensive production like he did tonight, then we’re pretty good. He’s just oozing with confidence. I think this was his best playoff game ever.
Consequently, it was yet one more blue-collar result in a gritty season in Indiana. Not much style. No monocles. Just a heaping dose of intensity, physicality and tenacity.
Also: Cliff Brunt’s Associated Press story highlighting the Knicks’ offensive failures: Indiana 82, New York 71.
Follow Chris Goff on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Pacers_Chants.
Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/cliffbrunt_isl.
