The Indiana Pacers lost to the New York Knicks in Game 3 on Sunday, falling 106-100. Indiana led by 20 points, but the Knicks gave them a taste of their own medicine, pulling off an improbable comeback on the road.
After scoring only four points in the first three quarters and getting into early foul trouble, Karl-Anthony Towns, for lack of a better word, looked like a scrub. However, he showed by the Knicks traded for him, authoring a 20-point fourth quarter, shooting six-of-nine from the floor and three-of-four from deep in a masterful final frame.
The Pacers will focus on Towns in a critical Game 4 on Tuesday.
"He's a good player," said Andrew Nembhard. "I mean, he's making tough shots, trying to make it tough on him."
Towns, unlike most big men, can not only shoot from deep and bruise in the paint, but he can handle the ball well enough to drive from the 3-point line, making closing out on him a risky gambit.
"He's got a hair trigger, and you think you're close enough to him and he just flicks the wrist, so he hit some 3s, said Rick Carlisle after Game 3. "He got to the rim. He played great down the stretch."
While Josh Hart cleaned up the boards for the Knicks, Jalen Brunson only played two minutes in the fourth quarter, and OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson, and Mikal Bridges combined for only two points.
The comeback was entirely on the back of Towns, and the Pacers had no answer.
"He won, he went on the run," said Pascal Siakam. "We weren't able to shut that off. So we got to get better at that. And yeah, like it was he made some big plays at the end for them and weren't able to get stops when we needed them, really."
With Game 4 set for Tuesday, slowing down Towns will be a central part of the Pacers' plan of defensive attack.
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