Only one NBA playoff game was on the schedule last night, the entire spotlight shining on Madison Square Garden for the Pacers’ second game against the New York Knicks. It was 73-63 Indiana at halftime, but defense seemed to leave them in the second half, when New York outscored them 67-48. Tyrese Haliburton had only 6 points in the previous game, came back with 34 in this one, but Jalen Brunson of the Knicks who scored 29– 25 of those in the 2nd half after missing the entire second quarter with a foot injury– was the big difference, the final Knicks 130, Pacers 121. New York has a 2 games to none lead as the series moves to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for a pair, beginning with game 3 tomorrow night.
Major League Baseball Wednesday saw the Reds scoring first on the Diamondbacks, as Stuart Fairchild hit an RBI single… Cincinnati also got a nice RBI double to left field from Jeimar Candelario, tying the game 2-2 in the 4th inning… and after that, TJ Friedl hit an RBI single that brought the Reds within 1 score, 4-3. Pitcher Graham Ashcraft struck out 2 batters over 5 innings, but despite some positives, the Reds couldn’t quite complete the effort, the final 4-3 Arizona. That runs the Reds’ current losing streak to a season-high 7 games, and they’ve dropped 10 of their last 12. Today’s contest comes early on a getaway day, so the Reds-DBacks broadcast begins at 12:40 this afternoon, on the Sports Voice, 103.9 FM, WRBI.
Weather’s been a concern for the high school diamond teams in our region this week, but some games have gotten in, as conditions permitted. Wednesday’s softball scores included East Central beating Connersville 6-5, Rushville over Franklin County 10-8, Milan topping South Ripley 9-3, and Knightstown shutting out North Decatur 10-0.
In baseball, East Central topped Madison 4-2, South Ripley beat Milan 8-3, and Jac-Cen-Del defeated Edinburgh 7-3.
Today’s schedule calls for Rushville baseball to visit Batesville, East Central hosting Greensburg, Franklin County going to Lawrenceburg, South Dearborn visiting Connersville, North Decatur hosting Southwestern of Shelby County, and South Decatur going to Hauser. The softball diamonds should see East Central at Lawrenceburg, South Dearborn at Franklin County, Oldenburg Academy going to Switzerland County, and South Decatur also at Hauser.