Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals is already an absolute warzone! The New York Knicks are in Indiana, fighting for their playoff lives, trying to drag this series back to MSG for a legendary Game 7. The Indiana Pacers? They’re trying to slam the door shut and punch their ticket to the NBA Finals on their home court.

The energy in Gainbridge Fieldhouse is insane, and right from the opening tip, one thing became crystal clear, especially to a guy who knows a thing or two about championship physicality: the refs are letting these dudes play.

And who was one of the first to call it out? None other than Celtics champion and ESPN analyst, Kendrick Perkins. Big Perk hopped on Twitter almost immediately, dropping this gem: “Oh the letting them play today damn it. Physicality is on another level”.

And that first quarter? It was exactly what Big Perk was talking about – an absolute street fight from the jump. Neither team was giving an inch, bodies were flying, and every single point felt like it was earned through sheer will. The Pacers edged it 25-24, but the score doesn’t even tell half the story of how intense those first 12 minutes were. You had Mitchell Robinson for the Knicks just owning the offensive glass like a man possessed, while on the other side, guys like Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam were throwing their weight around, refusing to back down.

This bruising, “earn every inch” style of basketball, with the refs clearly allowing more contact than usual, continued right through the first half. Both teams were driving hard, absorbing bumps, and fighting through traffic without getting many bail-out calls, leading to a nail-biting 58-54 Pacers lead at the break. It was clear this game was going to be won in the trenches.

And right in the middle of that beautiful playoff chaos is Jalen Brunson, trying to put the Knicks on his back once again. After that heroic 32-point performance in Game 5 that saved their season, you know he came into tonight with that same “do whatever it takes” mentality. He actually scored the Knicks’ first two baskets, trying to set the tone.

But with the Pacers throwing everything at him, and with both him and Karl-Anthony Towns having some tough shooting stretches in the second quarter, it’s clear he needs to dig even deeper in the second half if the Knicks are going to force that Game 7. Remember what he said after that Game 3 comeback win? “Unpredictable. No lead is safe.” That’s the motto for this series, and the Knicks are hoping to prove it one more time. Perk called the physicality early, and it’s definitely shaping up to be a dogfight to the finish.

But even more than that, Perk’s tweet just points to the latest episode in what’s been a full-blown officiating drama throughout this entire Knicks-Pacers war.

Beyond the arc-ument – officiating takes center stage in Knicks-Pacers

Let’s rewind a bit. Even before Game 4, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau was already publicly airing his grievances. He was clearly frustrated with how Jalen Brunson was being officiated, especially on those 50/50 charge-versus-block calls. Thibs, never one to bite his tongue, basically said, “I don’t care what the officiating is saying, I’ve studied this league a long time, I know what a charge looks like,” implying Brunson wasn’t getting a fair shake. He even mentioned a specific challenge in Game 3 on a blocking call against Brunson that the refs didn’t overturn, and you could just feel his exasperation. That’s a coach trying to work the refs, trying to get his superstar some calls.

Then came Game 4, and the fan frustration hit a boiling point, particularly over a no-call when OG Anunoby got absolutely hammered by Pascal Siakam going for a rebound. Knicks fans on social media were losing it, with some even screaming “rigged!” One fan pointed out a wild sequence where Anunoby got “clotheslined,” and then, bam, the Knicks got hit with four quick fouls in just 17 seconds. It just fueled that feeling for some that the calls weren’t going their way, that the refs were maybe a little too quick on the trigger for New York and a little too lenient on Indiana.

But it’s not just one-sided. Even Pacers legend Reggie Miller, doing color commentary for TNT in Game 5, got in on the officiating discussion, though from a different angle. When Miles McBride fouled Pascal Siakam on a play that some thought might be flagrant, Reggie hilariously scoffed, “I’ve been kissed harder than that.”

He wasn’t even stumping for his old team, he was arguing that if the refs started calling that kind of physicality a flagrant foul, it would “set playoff basketball back.” He was all for letting them play, for keeping that playoff intensity. And guess what? The refs agreed with him on that one, calling it a common foul.

So, when Kendrick Perkins tweets about the refs letting them play in Game 6, he’s tapping into a theme that’s been brewing all series long. It’s been a physical, sometimes chippy, and often controversially officiated battle. It really makes you think – more than just the players’ talent or the coaches’ strategies, sometimes it feels like the referees’ interpretation of the rules, those split-second decisions on what’s a foul and what’s just “playoff basketball,” have an absolutely massive say in how these games, and ultimately the series, actually pan out. Every whistle, or every swallowed whistle, can feel like it’s shifting the entire landscape.