Even the Eastern Conference Finals dared to let the team s 10th player appear! The Pacers completely relied on their physical strength to drag down the Knicks

In the previous NBA Eastern Conference G1, the Indiana Pacers, ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference in the regular season, defeated the New York Knicks, ranked third in the Eastern Conference in the regular season after a tough overtime battle, 138-135 after a tough game. After this game, the Pacers successfully completed the following draws, gained a 1-0 advantage in the first round of the series, and regained the home advantage.

In this game, the Pacers' substitute backcourt star Ben Sheppard also got the opportunity to enter the rotation lineup. Shepard played 7 minutes and 15 seconds in the game, made 0 of 1 shots, 0 of 1 from outside the three-point line, did not score 1 point in the game, contributed only 1 assist, and had 1 foul, but the plus and negative value reached the second highest +14 in the team. Shepard did not get any chance on the court, nor did he show any scoring ability, and he did not seem to have outstanding personal defensive ability on the defensive end, but the team's situation was quite good when he was on the court, which can also be reflected in his higher plus and negative values. It seems that Shepard's role is very limited, but from the actual situation, he has also made his own contribution to the team's victory. He helped the starters gain more playing time, which is his true value to the team.

In the NBA regular season this season, Shepard played a total of 63 games in 82 games, averaging 19.5 minutes per game, averaging 5.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.2 blocks, and 0.3 turnovers and 2 fouls. His shooting percentage was 41.8%, three-point shooting percentage was 34.2%, and free throw shooting percentage was 88.9%. In the playoffs, Shepard played 9 games in the first 11 games, averaging 12.1 minutes per game, averaging 3.3 points, 1.4 rebounds, 0.2 assists and 0.1 steals, 0.4 turnovers and 1.4 fouls, shooting percentage of 43.5%, three-point shooting percentage of 33.3%, and free throw shooting percentage of 100%.

Shepard's performance during the regular season can only be considered a sloppy. His performance has improved to a certain extent compared to last season, but the effect is not so obvious. With Shepard's level, it is not easy for him to enter the rotation lineup in the playoffs. As a result, in the Eastern Conference Finals, he was able to stay on the court as the 10th man in the team. It was an incredible thing. This also illustrates the boldness and determination of Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle in employed people. Compared with the Knicks' extreme human use strategy, the Pacers did the opposite and still used a large number of personnel in the Eastern Conference Finals. In this game, physical strength is also a key factor in the team being able to win this game. I don’t know if the Knicks will change their strategy in the next game, otherwise it seems that their physical strength may become increasingly large and affect the trend of this round of series.