The Indiana Pacers are in the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2004 after eliminating the New York Knicks with a 106-99 win at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Game 6 on Saturday night.

The Pacers were led by a different player in each of their four wins over the Knicks and in Game 6 it was Lance Stephenson’s turn.

Stephenson, who can be maddening to watch, scored a career-high 25 points on 9-for-13 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds. The New York native had 16 points in the first half and exploded in the fourth when Indiana pulled away in what was the most exciting game of the series.

How can the fifth-most important starter on a team be exasperating to watch? Consider this sequence: Stephenson bricked a three from the right wing, then stole the ball on the ensuing possession and converted an old-fashioned (not exactly something you’d call ‘Born Ready’) three-point play.  

In the early going it looked as though the Pacers could run away with a series-clinching victory, but the Knicks refused to go down without a fight. More than four minutes into the second quarter the Pacers held an 18-5 edge on the glass but only had a six-point lead. Indiana closed out the first half well to lead 55-47 after 24 minutes.

New York shot 35.4 percent in the first half and Indiana held a 25-15 rebounding edge. Uncharacteristically, the Pacers hit 50 percent of their shots. As we’ve come to expect, they turned the ball over eight times.

As the Pacers flirted with a finishing punch in the third quarter, the Knicks finally exploded from deep. Indiana did a great job of pushing New York off the three-point line and closing out on shooters all series, but they lost Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith over a 108-second stretch that saw the Knicks go on a 12-2 run. Shumpert and Smith combined to hit four-straight threes to erase a double-digit deficit and tie the game at 72.

The Knicks went 6-for-7 from deep in the quarter and outrebounded the Pacers by four as they took control of the momentum heading into the fourth period. Early in the fourth New York was winning the 50/50 battles, but Indiana owned the last five minutes. 

The fulcrum of the game turned out to be Roy Hibbert’s tremendous block on Carmelo Anthony with the Knicks ahead 92-90. The Pacers seemed to have all the energy after the rejection. Stephenson then went on a one-man run to push his team into the next round.

“That block, I think it spearheaded the run they made,” Anthony said at the podium after the game.

Hill Plays, But Isn’t Right

George Hill was active for Game 6 on Saturday night despite missing the last game after suffering a concussion on Tuesday night in Game 4. It’s hard to quantify what his presence meant to the team, but it was obvious that he wasn’t 100 percent.

He finished 2-for-10 and front-rimmed a number of shots, a sign of fatigue and weak legs, but Hill was a game-high +12. He did his job at the line (7-for-7), but went just 1-for-6 from deep (a shot the Pacers will need against the Miami Heat). By avoiding a Game 7, Hill will have some time to rest up and heal before the Conference Finals start.

Carmelo Takes More Heat

Carmelo Anthony seemed to bring all he could with New York’s season on the line, scoring 39 points on 15-for-29 shooting, but all you will hear is how he performed in the fourth quarter. He made just two of his seven attempts with four points and three turnovers with the game in the balance.

“I don’t think it was fatigue and they didn’t make any adjustments,” Anthony said when asked about his rough fourth quarter. “A couple shots were almost in. We got some great looks coming down the stretch, shots that when we take we normally make. We got those looks tonight. We got what we wanted in the fourth quarter, but they just didn’t go down for us.”

Anthony has been dealing with shoulder issues since the end of the regular season, and appeared bothered by them once again in Game 6, and he also turned his ankle in the second half of this one.

More of the blame for this loss belongs on Mike Woodson and the lack of a consistent supporting cast. He has had to hoist an amazing amount of shots just to get the Knicks to the sixth game of a second-round series. Anthony simply looked tired on Saturday night.

Questioning Woodson

A lot went wrong for the Knicks in the second half, but they looked great in the third quarter and received a number of clutch shots from Iman Shumpert and Chris Copeland. The duo combined for 22 points on 7-for-10 shooting after halftime, with Shumpert single-handedly bringing New York back in the game.

After Shumpert scored 16 points in the third quarter, he played less than seven minutes in the fourth quarter and didn’t attempt a single field goal. How can that happen? Anthony is your clear-cut No. 1 (and perhaps No. 2 option as well), but with the season on the line you must at the very least give the hot hand a few chances to extend his run.

Copeland brought great energy to the floor all series, but only got significant time in in the last two contests.

Woodson didn’t have a perfect roster to work with, but you have to question some of the decisions made down the stretch – including time management with the season ticking away.

Golden Five

It was fitting that the Pacers took the podium as a group after Saturday night’s closeout victory given the balance they provide. Consider this: Anthony led New York in scoring in all six games. Each member of the starting five led Indiana in scoring at least once against New York (Paul George did so twice).

That makes them hard to double defensively because any open player can get hot and take advantage of open looks. It killed the Knicks when they doubled-down on Hibbert in the paint and the perimeter combination of George and Hill didn’t even shoot well from the perimeter.

Quite simply, the only way the Pacers can threaten the Heat and advance to the NBA Finals is to receive offensive balance from their first five, defend the three, limit turnovers and get something substantial from their bench.

Concussion has become a polarizing medical ailment across the sports community in recent years. The four major sports have implemented a protocol when dealing with head injuries as alarming health consequences have been revealed and seen in retired athletes.

Just hours before they were to take on the New York Knicks in Game 5 of their semifinal playoff series on Thursday night, the Indiana Pacers learned that they would be without George Hill because of a concussion suffered two nights earlier. Hill, who took a number of hard blows in Game 4, reportedly suffered the head injury on a hard foul by Tyson Chandler.

Hill complained of a headache during the Pacers' morning practice session on Thursday and took the NBA’s required concussion test a few hours later. He failed and was forced to watch his team lose at Madison Square Garden from the dimly-lit trainer’s room.

Hindsight is 20/20 and a concussion is a serious issue, but you have to wonder when Hill began feeling the symptoms. Frank Vogel said Thursday night that the point guard felt symptoms “at some point over the last two days.”

As Mike Wells astutely reported, Tyler Hansbrough urged Hill to undergo testing for a concussion. Hansbrough dealt with vertigo during his rookie season after suffering one.

The NBA instituted uniform concussion protocol before the 2011-12 season, making this season the first full campaign of its existence. There are undoubtedly numerous concussions that go undiagnosed. A player must feel the right symptoms, disclose them to his team’s medical staff and then they must be deemed serious enough for testing. From player to player, pain levels vary and the male ego comes into play as well.

It’s possible that in this case Hill felt off on Wednesday, but decided to wait before informing any team employees. Indiana went into Game 5 with a 3-1 series lead and three chances to eliminate New York and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

By my count, there were 13 diagnosed concussions in the NBA this season (including Hill and not including Harrison Barnes) that officially made their way onto a medical report. Darrell Arthur of the Memphis Grizzlies suffered two in less than three months, which makes him an interesting case going forward.

As you might expect, the wording of the league policy leaves a lot to infer. The Pacers have listed Hill as “day-to-day,” which makes sense given that the season is day-to-day in the playoffs. A player must pass a series of tests before returning to the floor, including a handful of non-contact and conditioning drills. There is a line in the rulebook that has alarmed many around the Pacers: “The process will likely take at least several days, if not weeks.”

Every case is different and all that means is that it’s impossible to determine when he will return. However, there is precedent for Hill to return as early as Saturday night, if not for possible games on Monday (Game 7) or Wednesday (Game 1 against the Miami Heat).

Arthur absorbed a blow to the head on Dec. 14, 2012 and initially had a “dental issue.” He was then diagnosed with what the Grizzlies called a “mild” concussion and missed the team’s next game. He was back on the floor three days later on Dec. 17, 2012. Arthur suffered a second concussion on March 3 and didn’t suit up again until March 22. There has been no indication that his quick return from the first concussion led to the second.

When looking at cases this season, I wasn’t concerned with the number of games missed by a concussed player, but rather the number of days they sat out. My sample size dropped to 11 cases because C.J. Miles of the Cleveland Cavaliers suffered a concussion on April 7 and never played another game.

Those players that failed a concussion test and returned this season – John Jenkins, Nikola Vucevic, Darrell Arthur, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Chris Kaman, Pau Gasol, Marvin Williams, Jeff Pendergraph and Anthony Davis – missed an average of 11 days.

Chris Kaman missed 27 days spanning January and February with a severe concussion, while Jenkins, Kidd-Gilchrist, Williams, Pendergraph and Davis all missed about a week.

It’s impossible to predict when Hill will be able to return to the floor – it could be Saturday, a few games into a potential series with the Heat or even the first game of the 2013-14 season – and to try and guess one way or the other is a losing proposition.

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The frontcourt of the Indiana Pacers overmatched the New York Knicks inside by +42 rebounding margin (186-144) through the first four games of the series.

In Game 5, Chris Copeland added a new dimension to the Knicks’ offense and helped to largely neutralize the effectiveness of Roy Hibbert and David West.

“I wouldn’t call it a mismatch, but I think I can help us spread the floor and get those guys away from the basket,” said Copeland. “I’m just trying to make spacing better by being out there on the wing, give Carmelo (Anthony) his opportunities on the wings, and give J.R. (Smith) more free space to roam and attack.”

Copeland’s presence helped the Knicks cut the rebounding deficit (43-40) by pulling Hibbert and West away from the basket on pick-and-roll plays and by roaming along the three-point line along the wings in Game 5.

With Hibbert and West drawn away from the basket, it opened up space for Tyson Chandler to tap the ball out for second chance opportunities.

Raymond Felton was also able to navigate through the lane for loose rebounds and grabbed four offensive rebounds in Game 5.

Copeland has shot the ball well from beyond the arc in the playoffs (.571) and has provided a constant offensive threat when on the court.

“I think we had great spacing tonight,” said Copeland after Game 5. “We moved the ball really well.”

Coming into the series, Frank Vogel highlighted Copeland on the scouting report as a possible threat.

“We thought we’d see him in the series and we know he’s a terrific offensive player, a good player all the way around, and you have to honor him at the three-point line,” said Vogel.

After watching Copeland make three three-pointers, the Pacers must adjust to defending the stretch forward heading into Game 6.

“You can’t allow the attempt with him, he’s that good of a shooter,” said Vogel.

With Jason Kidd remaining scoreless since April 23rd, and Amar'e Stoudemire and Steve Novak limited due to injuries, Copeland knows his offense will be needed to help New York win Game 6 on the road.

“I’m going to stay aggressive, my teammates want me to stay aggressive, the coaching staff as well,” said Copeland.

“I think (Chris) Copeland did an unbelievable job,” said J.R. Smith. “He’s got a whole lot of talent and we have a whole lot of confidence in him. For him to be a rookie and come in and step up as big as he did is huge for us.”

Copeland is confident the bench can provide a repeat performance in Game 6 after combining to score 35 of the Knicks' 85 points.

“It’s going to take a team effort for us to get over this hump and get out of this hole,” said Copeland. “I think everybody knows what we have to do when we get out on the floor. It’s going to take more than the first five for sure. The guys on the sidelines are staying ready and going out and helping when we can.” 

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