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Rick Carlisle Reveals Indiana Pacers' Plan to Stop Jalen Brunson

The Eastern Conference Finals are set, and the Indiana Pacers will take on the New York Knicks, a rematch of last year's second round and the 2000 Eastern Conference Finals.

For the third series in a row, the Pacers won't boast the best player in the series. In the first round, Giannis Antetokounmpo was by far the biggest star, and in the second round, the Pacers had to go up against Donovan Mitchell.

While Andrew Nembhard has been an effective defender all postseason, slowing down Jalen Brunson, the best player in this series, will be more of a team effort.

"This is gonna be a team thing," said Rick Carlisle. "It's not just gonna be Drew. It's gonna be Drew, it'll be Aaron, it'll be Mathurin, you know, Tyrese is gonna end up on him some, Sheppard's in the mix, McConnell has guarded him. Brunson is a master at creating angles, and he has the uncanny ability to create space and shots, and there really is, I think in the history of the game, it's very difficult to think of somebody quite like him."

While the Pacers didn't really stop or even slow down Antetokounmpo and Mitchell, they were able to contain the damage by minimizing the other opinions. The Milwaukee Bucks had virtually no supporting cast, and the Cavs, for the most part, were in the same boat, relying on their superstar to carry them.

The Pacers boast more depth than anyone remaining, save maybe the Oklahoma City Thunder, and they will always have a fresh body to guard Brunson.

"With great players, we had Giannis in the first round, we just tried to make it hard. In the second round, we had to deal with Mitchell," reflected Carlisle. "He was scoring 40 a game, you know, you just gotta try to make it hard, you know, and we're not gonna stop Brunson. We just gotta try to make it hard and we gotta figure out a way to make it hard on the other guys too."

The Knicks can rely on OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Karl-Anthony Towns to score as well, but slowing them down starts with containing Brunson as much as possible.

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