The New York Knicks are on the brink. After a 130-121 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night, the Knicks will head back to Madison Square Garden down 3-1 in the series -- and facing long odds to advance to the NBA Finals.
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson did what he could on the offensive end in Game 4. Brunson, the team captain, scored 31 points and handed out five assists, but New York struggled collectively in his 37 minutes; the Knicks were outscored by 16 points with Brunson on the floor.
Brunson was self-critical when speaking to the media at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, explaining that he was "not doing enough" as the Knicks struggled to bottle up the Pacers' explosive offense. Star center Karl-Anthony Towns though defended Brunson, and he urged his teammates to rise to the challenge facing them in Game 5.
“We all have to be better for him. It’s not just him, it’s all of us," Towns said of the criticism around Brunson. "As a team we have to all do better. It’s not just him, it’s all of us. We all have to do a better job of making it more difficult for each one of them to score.
“Tonight we didn’t do that as a team, not just him. A team."
Led by point guard Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers dropped 43 points on the Knicks' defense in Game 4, and Indiana shot 51 percent for the game. Though Brunson was productive, Haliburton out-dueled him in this matchup, recording a 32-point, 15-assist, 12-rebound triple-double with zero turnovers as Indiana moved within one win of its first Finals appearance since 2000.
The Knicks will have one more chance to extend their NBA Finals quest on Thursday, when the Eastern Conference finals shift back to New York City. It remains to be seen if Towns' teammates will produce a stronger defensive effort to extend the series.