FOUL MOOD: As the Pacers’ David West looks on, Tyson Chandler throws his hands up in disbelief after fouling out late in the Knicks’ 106-99 loss in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals last night. (Anthony J. Causi)
INDIANAPOLIS — Following the Knicks’ 106-99 ouster by the Pacers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals last night, center Tyson Chandler was asked why the Knicks never seemed to get back to their early-season form, when they were one of the NBA’s brightest stories.
“I don’t know, I can’t answer that,” Chandler said.
Sort of like his in-game responses to Pacers center Roy Hibbert.
The center position became a glaring mismatch as Hibbert outscored Chandler 13.3 to 6.2 and outrebounded him 10.3 to 6.0. Yeah, that’s a big reason the Pacers are moving on and the Knicks will collect their belongings.
“They go to him a lot. We tried to limit his looks. He had the two games here where he was able to get some good looks. He had putbacks. He did a good job for his team,” Chandler said after the Pacers eliminated the Knicks.
In case you were wondering: Hibbert went for 21 points and 12 rebounds last night. Chandler, before fouling out with a little over three minutes left, had two points and six rebounds. Chandler was bothered late in the year by a bulging disk. It may have affected his playoff performance, but he never complained.
“Tyson was last year’s Defensive Player of the year, first team All-Defense [this year] and he does a great job of making things tough for you one on one,” Hibbert said. “I know I’m not going to have big scoring nights, but I try to do the dirty work and try to get offensive boards and create extra possessions.”
Hibbert admitted he had a secret weapon: David West, who played with Chandler in New Orleans.
“David played with him for a couple years and … he would tell me things about position and I tried to soak that up like a sponge,” Hibbert said. “Something just worked out.”
Yeah, he was better in six games by far. But so were other Pacers.
“They did a better job of attacking. They sent more men. Each game it was somebody different,” Chandler said. “It worked out for them and we never made the adjustment to make them pay.”