In a tightly-contested Eastern Conference Finals series between rivals, every possession will be of paramount importance for the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers. It’s up to the players on the court to take extra care to protect the ball as much as possible. That mission, of course, doesn’t necessarily include famous actors who (should) have no impact on the play whatsoever while they just try to hang out.
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Well, it sure seems like no one passed this memo along to Jon Hamm.
As the Knicks and Pacers duked it out in an electric, high-paced show in Game 1 on Wednesday night, Indiana star guard Tyrese Haliburton got a key deflection off OG Anunoby. When Haliburton tried to tight-rope the sideline and keep the ball in play for a steal, Hamm appeared to accidentally touch the ball before Haliburton could make a reasonable play on it.
Judging from Haliburton’s understandably frustrated reaction, Hamm’s seeming intervention came at the worst possible time:
I guess there’s more than one way to help your team in some of the biggest games of the season. Because if you’re someone like Hamm, you can probably just plead ignorance and innocence in situations like this. After all, it’s hard to imagine anyone ever turning the Mad Men actor into a modern Steve Bartman of sorts.
Though that’s why I still don’t blame Haliburton for getting irritated. This seeming deflection happened because of no one who was actually on the court! How could that not frustrate you?