"Ref really trying to keep Knicks in this game" - Shannon Sharpe calls out NBA referees for botching calls vs. Pacers
Game 7 between the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers did not meet the fans' expectations in attendance at Madison Square Garden. The visiting Pacers trounced New York from the opening quarter to the final buzzer to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
However, if fans were to ask ESPN analyst Shannon Sharpe, New York got some extra help from the officials. Whether this is true or not, it was not enough to keep New York in the game.
That has not stopped Sharpe from expressing his disappointment toward the officiating though. He went on X, formerly known as Twitter, to share his thoughts.
"Ref really trying 2 keep Knicks in this gm," Sharpe tweeted.
Later on, he also pointed out the amount of fouls that were called on the Pacers early in the fourth quarter.
"3 fouls on Pacers in 1st 45secs of 4th."
By looking at the game's box score, fans will see that there is indeed a gap between the fouls called between the Pacers and the Knicks but it isn't that big. Indiana had a total of 22 personal fouls called, led by Aaron Nesmith with five. On the other hand, New York only had 17.
This of course resulted in more free throws for New York. In total, they had 27 attempts to Indiana's 16.
Aside from fouls, some calls also resulted in turnovers and while Indiana had more (12 TOs total), the difference is not that huge (eight for New York).
Also read: In Photos: Fat Joe, Steve Schirripa & other celebrities spotted in attendance courtside for Knicks vs Pacers do-or-die Game 7
The Knicks were less efficient in scoring compared to the Pacers in Game 7
One glaring issue for the New York Knicks that led to their defeat in Game 7 was their considerably lower field goal percentage.
As a team, the Pacers shot 67.1% throughout their contest. Meanwhile, New York only made 42.4% of their attempts in front of their home crowd. The same happened from beyond the arc as Indiana made 54.2% (13-for-24) of their three-pointers while holding New York to only 37.1% (13-for-35).
The only place where the Knicks had the advantage was on the free throw line, making 24 out of their 27 attempts (88.9%) compared to the Pacers' 68.8%. Indiana dominated in other stats across the board. They had more rebounds by a tiny margin (33-28) and they had more assists (33-22).
In terms of individual performance, Donte DiVincenzo led his team with 39 while Jalen Brunson had an uncharacteristic low-scoring performance with 17.
As for the Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton led them with 26. Pascal Siakam and Andrew Nembhard also came to play, dropping 20 points apiece.