It didn’t take long for Game 7 between the Knicks and Pacers to get chippy.
Tension boiled over at the 4:50 mark of the first quarter when the Pacers’ Pascal Siakam bent over to tie his shoe, which the Knicks’ Donte DiVincenzo seemed to interpret as a stalling technique before an Indiana review.
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DiVincenzo, who had just been fouled by Tyrese Haliburton on a drive to the basket, pointed and put his hands on Siakam, who then shoved him away. Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein then intervened and got shoved back by Siakam, too.
Others on both sides got into the mix, including the Pacers’ James Johnson, who came over from the bench.
Siakam and DiVincenzo were both given technical fouls, while a review led to an overturn of the original foul call on Haliburton.
The brief incident follows a Game 5 altercation between DiVincenzo and Pacers center Myles Turner, who exchanged words after getting tangled up on a Turner screen.
“They were trying to be tough guys,” DiVincenzo said after Game 5. “That’s not their identity, and there was nothing more to that. I don’t agree with trying to walk up on somebody. Nobody’s gonna fight in the NBA. Take the foul, keep it moving. You’re not a tough guy, just keep it moving.”
