I truly believe that the Indiana Pacers had no shot at beating a healthy New York Knicks squad. Unfortunately for the Knicks, they simply couldn’t stay healthy during the playoffs and even Jalen Brunson, who reinvigorated fans in New York with his tenacity, ended up being the final casualty of the season during their Game 7 loss to the Pacers.

That was the final nail in the coffin for the Knicks. Unable to return to the game, and already struggling before leaving, Brunson’s departure would ensure that Donte DiVincenzo’s 39 points and Alec Burks’ 26 off the bench would not be enough. 

You’ve got to give OG Anunoby some credit, though. Like James Harden on the Nets a couple years ago, he came to play with a hamstring injury suffered in Game 2, but was only able to register five minutes before leaving the game.

The list of injuries doesn’t end there, of course. Josh Hart also played through an abdominal injury suffered in Game 6, and even registered 37 minutes like a warrior in Game 7.

Oh, and Mitchell Robinson’s been out since the first round series against the Philadelphia 76ers, which took away their starting center.

Add that to Bojan Bodganovic’s needing surgery on his foot, which also derailed his postseason and removed an important shooter from the rotation.

Oh, and finally, let’s not forget that Julius Randle has been gone since January, taking away arguably their second best player.

The six injured men are literally are all players that would be valued as key contributors on any contending team, and it’s insane that the Knicks still managed to push a much healthier Pacers squad to a Game 7.

I truly hope that the Knicks come back healthy next season, because I think a fully healthy team could have given us an entertaining series with the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. I think that Boston will run right through Indiana in the ECF.