It wasn’t too way back the Knicks envisioned Obi Toppin delivering essential dunks for them, not towards them, deep right into a playoff run.
The Knicks took Toppin, a Brooklyn native, with the No. 8 choose in 2020, making him the primary participant drafted by group president Leon Rose.
Toppin shortly emerged as a fan favourite because of his acrobatic dunks, however the energy ahead’s manufacturing by no means rose to the extent the group had hoped.
Two summers in the past, the Indiana Pacers acquired Toppin in a commerce with the Knicks — whom he helped defeat Wednesday with a pair of time beyond regulation dunks in Sport 1 of the Jap Convention Finals.
“Always fun playing back in the Garden,” Toppin mentioned after that 138-135 victory, “and definitely coming out here with a win.”
Each of Toppin’s well timed dunks got here within the remaining minute of OT.
The primary was a two-handed tip-in after a missed 3-pointer by Tyrese Haliburton, giving Indiana a 134-133 lead with 54 seconds remaining.
Two possessions later, with Indiana up 136-135, Toppin collected an inbound cross and gave the ball to Andrew Nembhard. Toppin then leaked open for one more two-handed slam — via contact the NBA mentioned ought to have been a foul — with 15.1 seconds left after Mitchell Robinson and Miles McBride each adopted Nembhard.
A number of Knicks mentioned afterward that they need to have fouled Toppin earlier than he broke free.
“We just didn’t,” Jalen Brunson mentioned.
Toppin completed with eight factors on 4-of-9 taking pictures, 10 rebounds and a plus/minus of +9 in 20 minutes in Sport 1, serving to the Pacers cap a comeback win on an evening they trailed by 17 factors with 6:26 left in regulation.
“He made a few of the most decisive plays for us,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle mentioned.
Toppin was the reigning Naismith Participant of the Yr when the Knicks drafted him out of Dayton.
He received the 2022 NBA Slam Dunk Contest as a Knick, however he averaged 7.0 factors and three.0 rebounds in 14.7 minutes per recreation in three seasons with the group and began solely 15 of his 201 appearances.
Toppin was caught behind Julius Randle on the Knicks’ bench, and his defensive and rebounding shortcomings prevented him from incomes a bigger position in Tom Thibodeau’s rotation.
The Knicks traded Toppin for a pair of second-round picks.
Toppin — whose youthful brother, Jacob, additionally performed for the Knicks — has been extra productive with the Pacers, who deploy a deeper rotation and depend on vitality from their bench to take care of an uptempo offensive assault.
In two seasons with Indiana, Toppin has averaged 10.4 factors and 4.0 rebounds in 19.6 minutes per recreation. He’s began 32 of his 161 regular-season video games with Indy.
“Obi’s grown so much as a player,” Carlisle mentioned. “When he came to us, we talked to him about improving his defense, improving his rebounding. He’s really worked at both things.”
Final offseason, the Pacers signed Toppin to a four-year, $60 million extension.
He performed the ultimate 2:24 of time beyond regulation on Wednesday, working as a finisher rather than beginning heart Myles Turner.
“I feel like we’re just super resilient,” Toppin mentioned. “With us, you’ve got to play until the last buzzer goes off. I feel like everybody on this team is going to work 110% every single game, until that last buzzer.”
Toppin heard a number of boos throughout Sport 1, and afterward, a viral video confirmed an upbeat Toppin inviting a heckling fan to “pull up” to the group resort.
However Toppin nonetheless has love for his hometown.
“I missed them, so just saying what’s up,” Toppin mentioned of his interactions with Knicks followers. “That’s it.”
