St. John’s basketball: JaKarr Sampson, Indiana Pacers exit playoffs quietly

Former St. John’s basketball star JaKarr Sampson and the Indiana Pacers are exiting the NBA Playoffs quietly follow it its sweep by the Miami Heat.

JaKarr Sampson has played his role to perfection since arriving in the NBA’s bubble in Orlando, Florida at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex but that role has come to an end.

The Indiana Pacers were officially knocked out of the bubble on Monday evening following a sweep at the hands of the Miami Heat.

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Indiana, the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, won the final game of the restarted regular season over the Heat to take “home court advantage” although there is no such thing this season.

However, the script was flipped very quickly on the Pacers who could not solve the Heat, coming no close than nine points of Miami in any of the four games.

Monday’s defeat was the lowest scoring game of the season with Erik Spoelstra’s squad coming out with a 99-87 victory.

As for former Red Storm standout Sampson, he barley saw the court in Game Three and Game Four, logging a combined 16 minutes after playing 17 minutes in both Game One and Game Two.

In the first two games of the series, Sampson added 18 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and two steals on 9-of-12 shooting from the field.

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Contrasting that to the final two games of the series, Sampson only had two points, four rebounds, and one assist on 1-of-4 shooting from the floor.

Overall, it was a positive first season for JaKarr Sampson with the Indiana Pacers but the future of the 6-foot-7 forward looks cloudy as he is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent following the end of the league year.

ALSO READ: JaKarr Sampson continues to thrive in playoffs

However, no new league year has been set as the league continues to make adjustments caused by the coronavirus pandemic.