The New York Knicks overturned a 20-point deficit as they fought back to beat the Indiana Pacers in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday.
The Knicks cut Indiana’s lead to 2-1 in the series after their 106-100 win. Now, following their losses at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks are now right back in the battle for a place in the NBA Finals.
Karl-Anthony Towns starred for the Knicks with 24 points – 20 of them in an explosive fourth-quarter performance – and contributed 15 rebounds as New York recorded their joint-largest comeback in a playoff game.
The Pacers must now regroup for Game 4 on Tuesday, having let a chance to take a commanding 3-0 lead slip from their grasp.
Jalen Brunson added 23 points but had five fouls and had to sit for stretches of the game, although the Knicks never let up when he was on the bench.
The Pacers had started strong and were 20 points up late in the second quarter after a 13-0 run, which included a three-pointer from Tyrese Haliburton, who followed it up with a huge dunk.
But the Knicks responded with a 10-3 run to end the second quarter and that was emblematic of their effort.
New York ground their way closer and closer and grabbed the led when Towns drained a 26-foot three-point jumper and then quickly followed up with a violent dunk to make it 86-85 with 8:02 remaining in the game.
Indiana kept in touch but Towns made a 30-foot three-pointer to put New York 94-90 up and the Knicks never let that lead slip.
“When I got a chance tonight to do what I do in the fourth, I made sure I was going to seize the opportunity,” said Towns, who made 8-of-17 shots from the floor, including 3-of-7 from three-point range, and was 5-of-6 from the free-throw line.
“I just wanted to go out there and give our team a chance to win. I’m just happy I was able to do that,” he added.
The Knicks have so often depended on Brunson this season but with their star’s minutes restricted due to his five fouls, they showed their depth.
“That’s what we’re built on,” Brunson told broadcasters TNT.
“We’re a great team, great chemistry. Built on togetherness. It’s tough watching from the sidelines, but I got the utmost faith and confidence in them.”
‘No excuses’
Haliburton led the Pacers with 20 points and six assists while Myles Turner added 19 points, but there was a blow for Indiana when forward Aaron Nesmith limped out of the game midway through the third after he landed badly.
Indiana led 70-57 with 6:06 remaining in the third when Nesmith headed to the locker room with what was later confirmed as a right ankle sprain.
By the time he returned in the fourth quarter the Knicks were ahead, but coach Rick Carlisle played down the significance of the lead vanishing without Nesmith on court.
“You lose a guy like that, it affects your ability to close a quarter, so maybe there’s a factor there, but we’re not gonna make excuses,” he said.
“I mean, we’ve come back from big leads, we lost a lead today. Regardless of who’s out there, we’ve got to be able to attack better and do the things to maintain it and finish the game.
“So we just simply did not execute as well as we need to,” he said.
The winner of the series will face Oklahoma City or Minnesota in the Finals. The Thunder lead the series 2-1 heading into Monday’s Game Four in Minneapolis.
Game 4 will take place in Indiana on Tuesday, May 27th.
