Plucky Pacers keep raising bar for Knicks' coaching search with what-ifs stinging even more
We knew the Knicks were fairly close under Tom Thibodeau. But this close? Nope.
With each day the NBA Finals were extended by those plucky Pacers, the bar shifted upward for the Knicks front office and their next coach.
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Because in retrospect, the Pacers, who eliminated the Knicks in the conference finals, are better than we imagined. They've pushed the Thunder to the brink after most inside the NBA atmosphere — from pundits to talent evaluators to players — believed Indiana to be vastly inferior.
The Thunder, after all, steamrolled the NBA to this point (except for the Nuggets), winning 68 games in the regular season before going 12-4 in the Western Conference playoff bracket. They have the MVP, the league's best defense, the advantage of youth and depth. They were supposed to pummel the Pacers with these tools, but Game 7 is now booked for Sunday because Indy curb stomped OKC in Thursday night's Game 6, 108-91. It'll be the first Game 7 of the NBA Finals since a 73-win team from Golden State was stunned at home by Kyrie Irving and LeBron James in 2016.
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