Hamilton: Pablo Prigioni and Jason Kidd Are Unsung Heroes In Knicks Game 2 Victory

After the game, Kidd said that he did not believe that momentum carried over from game to game. “Each game is its own animal,” he said.

And that is true, but within a game, momentum shifts rather easily, and that final play of the third helped propel the Knicks into the fourth.

The Chandler dunk came with the game close and the Pacers charging. The mood in the Garden was melancholy and somewhat worried since the Knicks managed just a four point lead in a game that they needed to have.

The riveting cheers for Chandler’s buzzer-beating dunk were deafening. And for the Pacers, that was the beginning of the end.

Like tag-team partners, Prigioni took over the game from Kidd, and simply dominated over the next nine minutes.

The first play of the fourth quarter saw Prigioni hit a 3-pointer off the dribble. Tyson Chandler set a screen that Lance Stephenson went over and—swish—it was a nine point lead.

On the ensuing possession, Prigioni nailed a floater to make the lead 11 points and a few plays later, he found Anthony for another 3-pointer. All of a sudden, the Knicks were up 16 points and everyone—including the Pacers—knew that the game was over.

There was more than eight minutes remaining on the game clock, but the Pacers were down for the count.

Though most of the fourth was garbage time, Prigioni played most of the quarter, checking out with only 1:24 remaining in the contest.

He reentered the game with the Knicks winning by three. When he exited? They were winning by 26. He ended the game with 10 points, four rebounds and four assists, but eight points, three assists and three rebounds came in the fourth quarter.

At the 3:30 mark, Even the most faithful of Knicks fans began to file to the exits. Quentin Richardson had nailed two consecutive 3-pointers, so everyone knew there was nothing else to see.

Know this: a glance at the box score or watching highlights tells only 30 percent of what actually occurs in a game. The ebb and flow and energy and hustle plays—one has to be there to truly appreciate them.

And anyone that paid close attention to what happened in Game 2 knows that Kidd, and more so, Prigioni, helped put the game away.

“What Pablo was able to do, Raymond went out, he came in, he stepped up big time,” Anthony said after the game. “He was spectacular on both ends of the court, he controlled the game, he controlled the ball, on the defensive end, he pressured the ball and he got us getting up and pressuring the ball as a team.”

Credit coach Woodson for opting to go with Prigioni down the stretch. Though Shumpert turned in an all-around great performance, Prigioni forced Woodson to keep him on the floor for 10:30 of the fourth quarter, because he was that good.

“I didn’t forget Game 6 in Boston,” Woodson said of his decision to call Prigioni’s number when he opted to sit Felton. “Pablo was big in that game,” he recalled. In Game 6 against the Celtics, Prigioni scored 14 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists.

“I had flashbacks of Boston and I went with him and he came up big for us.”

Carmelo Anthony felt similarly.

“Pablo has been very consistent throughout the playoffs, he’s one of our key guys,” Anthony said. “Pablo stepped up big time and that’s the beauty of our team, you never know who’s gonna step up at any moment.”

“Offensively, he’s quiet, but he’s like an assassin on the offensive end.”

That he was, he sent a dagger right through the Pacers hearts, and helped Mike Woodson and Carmelo Anthony send this series to Indianapolis tied at one game apiece.

Moke Hamilton is a Senior NBA Columnist for SheridanHoops.com whose columns appear here during the season on Tuesdays and Fridays. Follow him on Twitter: @MokeHamilton