Jalen Brunson finished with 31 pts. Coach Tom Thibodeau looks on. Photo courtesy NY Knicks.
Tyrese Haliburton had a triple double with 32 pts (on 11-23 shooting, 5-12 from 3), 12 rebounds, 15 assists, 4 steals, and 0 turnovers to lead the Pacers to a 130-121 win over the Knicks on a Tuesday night in Indiana — giving the Pacers a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Pascal Siakam was a heady sidekick — with 30 pts on 11-21 shooting (3-4 from 3) and the Pacers also got great play from Aaron Nesmith (16 pts and a +20), Myles Turner, T.J. McConnell, Bennedict Mathurin (20 pts off the bench), and Obi Toppin in a total team win.
The Knicks last led with a minute left in the half — but Indiana closed the 2nd quarter well to take a 5-pt halftime lead, then scored the first 7 points of the 3rd quarter to take a 12-pt lead. The Knicks fought and fought and could never overcome that deficit.
NY pulled back to within 5 in the 3rd, but Indiana again closed the quarter well and were up by 11 entering the 4th, then upped the lead to 14 before NY came back to within 6 with 4 minutes left. Mikal Bridges led NY in the 3rd — hitting a couple of big 3’s — but he missed 3 straight rushed jumpers in the final 2 minutes and took heat from Knick fans.
Jalen Brunson had 31 pts on 9-19 shooting, but only took 3 shots in the 4th quarter, scoring 2 pts.
“Tweeted this below in 2020 on Tyrese Haliburton,” noted NBA Analyst Ross Kreines about Haliburton. “Absolute floor general! Watch how Bigs run the floor harder as they know they will get rewarded, shooters come off screens harder, guys cut harder as they know they’re getting the ball. Also, will get his own and he values the ball.”
Indiana leads the best of 7 series 3 games to 1.
1. Indiana Leads NY 43-35 After High-Scoring 1st
Indiana came out on fire, and the Knicks were right behind. Aaron Nesmith — the snipper of game 1 — hit two 3’s in the early minutes, Myles Turner hit a bucket-and-1 inside, Pascal Siakam scored on a drive, and Tyrese Haliburton hit a 3 and Indy was up 16-9.
OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Karl-Anthony Towns were firing back for NY, and a Mitchell Robinson alley-oop slam off a Brunson assist made it 16-11.
Benedict Mathurin came to play — and was getting buckets for Indy.
Josh Hart came off the bench (with Mitchell Robinson starting) and hit a 3 to pull NY within 29-27 with 4:29 left in the quarter, and a Brunson drive-and-1 cut the Indy lead to 31-30.
But pain-in-the-ass TJ McConnell came in and started pushing the ball for Indiana — doing the pain-in-the-ass things he does — penetrating, passing, stealing the ball.
2. Knicks Turn Ball Over; Outrebound Indy
The Knicks kept turning the ball over — Josh Hart with several bad passes early in the game as he tried to push the tempo. Mikal Bridges was guilty too. NY had 17 turnovers to Indiana’s 11.
NY did outrebound Indiana 44-33, with KAT getting 12, Hart getting 11, and Robinson 7 rebounds and a steal in 19 minutes.
3. NY Leads with 2 Minutes Left in Half, But Indy Finishes Well
TJ McConnell continued to be a pain in the ass to start the 2nd, stealing the ball from KAT near the start of the period, then making a driving layup next time down.
But coach Thibs brought in Delon Wright to guard him — and Wright absolutely neutralized him. Wright blocked a McConnell drive with 8:31 left and soon McConnell was out of the game.
Meanwhile Wright hit a 3, and he and Landry Shamet brought defensive intensity to the Knicks, with NY taking a 52-51 lead with 5:42 left.
Wright then stole the ball from Myles Turner, but missed badly on a rushed layup — and the NY momentum slipped. Still NY had a 64-63 lead after a Jalen Brunson drive-and-1 with 1:45 left in the half. It would be NY’s last lead.
Aaron Nesmith hit 2 free throws, then hit a J with 45 seconds left to give Indy a 3-pt lead, then missed a 3 but Pascal Siakam grabbed an offensive rebound and Tony Bradley layed it in for a 5-pt Indiana halftime lead.
4. Haliburton Leads Indy Run to Start 3rd
Out of the gate in the 3rd, Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam teamed up to run up 7 straight points for Indy and give them a 12-pt lead and command of the game.
Siakam hit a step-back jumper, Tyrese Haliburton stole the ball from Brunson and fed Siakam for a slam, then stole the ball off a Mikal Bridges bad pass.
Siakam hit Myles Turner for a 3 and Indy was up 76-64.
5. NY Pulls to Within 6, But Indy Finishes 3rd Quarter Well
NY pushed back, with Karl-Anthony Towns and Brunson doing much of the scoring, while Haliburton fired back for Indy.
A KAT drive pulled NY to within 6 with 1:57 left in the quarter.
But again Indy finished the quarter well — a Bennedict Mathurin drive-and-1, free throws off a drive, and a Tony Bradley free throw with a second left gave Indy an 11-pt lead, at 102-91, entering the 4th.
6. Siakam Leads Indy to Go Up 14 in 4th
Landrey Shamet was in to start the 4th and he hit an early 3 to pull NY within 106-96, but TJ McConnell started to run amuck again — hitting a J then feeding Mathurin for a dunk. Pascal Siakam then hit a drive and a 3 off two Mathurin assists and Indy was up by 15 at 111-96 with 9:53 left.
Knicks timeout.
Thibs brought in Delon Wright to neutralize McConnell — and he did just that, causing a McConnell travel and then a bad pass leading to an OG intercept. Soon McConnell was out of the game, replaced by Haliburton with 7:57 left. NY countered by bringing back Brunson for Wright.
7. Indy Physical D; Knicks Get Hit with Fuselage of Foul Calls
NY was down 111-99 when they got hit with a fuselage of foul calls — OG with a loose ball foul with 8:04 left, Josh Hart with a foul at 7:57, KAT with a foul at 7:55, and Hart with a shooting foul on Mathurin with 7:52 left.
It was frustrating for Knick fans because Indy was playing a Very Physical game — especially down low against KAT and Brunson on drives.
8. Bridges Launches NY Comeback to Within 6
But the Knicks launched one final comeback — with Mikal Bridges hitting two 3’s sandwiching drives by OG and KAT. NY was down 118-112 with 3:51 left after the second Bridges 3.
Haliburton responded with a deuce, but Hart hit a drive and NY was down 6 with 3:17 left. Pacers timeout.
9. Bridges Misses; Knicks Can’t Get Stops
In the final 3 minutes however, Bridges hot hand got cold — he missed 3 straight corner Jumpers — a 20 footer, an 18 footer, and a 3 from the corner — rushed shots as NY was trying to get back in it.
Pascal Siakam kept getting to the line and Indy upped their lead to 123-114 with a minute left. An Obi Toppin 3 with 46 seconds left sealed the win.
Jalen Brunson, who had only taken 2 shots in the quarter, scored a bucket with 16 seconds left and Bridges hit a 3 with 8 seconds left but the Knicks were defeated.
The Boxscore
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401772992