After the Indiana Pacers’ win in Game 1, it was easy to forget the New York Knicks made the Eastern Conference finals with some epic comebacks of their own. They provided a reminder Sunday and breathed some life into their season in the process.
New York trailed by as many as 20 points in Game 3, but roared back in the second half to notch a 106-100 win and avoid a 3-0 hole. With the series now 2-1, Game 4 is scheduled for Tuesday at Indiana (8 p.m. ET, TNT).
Karl-Anthony Towns needed that one. So did the Knicks. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
It took one of the best performances of Karl-Anthony Towns’ career to get there. Towns entered the fourth quarter with only four points, then reeled off 20 points in the final 12 minutes to stun Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
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That was the most fourth-quarter playoff points for a Knicks player in the play-by-play era (since 1997).
New York needed that firepower from Towns with Jalen Brunson battling foul trouble for the entire second half.
It was the third 20-point comeback for the Knicks in these playoffs and a record sixth for the league overall this postseason. New York got their first two in Games 1 and 2 of the last round against the Boston Celtics.
If there is reason for comfort for the Pacers, it’s that they have twice been in this position before. In this postseason, they are 6-0 in Games 1 and 2, 0-3 in Game 3s and 4-0 in Games 4 and 5. They’ll try to continue that trend Tuesday.
Knicks revamp struggling starting lineup before Game 3
The Knicks had an obvious lever to pull going into Game 3, and they pulled it.
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A starting lineup that had been getting outplayed for months and pulverized in the Pacers series was changed, with big man Mitchell Robinson entering the fray and big guard Josh Hart getting relegated to the bench. Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau had relied on the starting unit of Brunson, Towns, Hart, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges more than any lineup in the NBA, but finally adjusted with a two-big group to begin Game 3.
The shift was overall a positive. The only player who finished the game with a negative plus-minus was, funnily enough, Brunson, and Towns obviously responded well despite having company in the paint.
Hart was also unbothered by the change, and ended up playing 34 minutes anyway. He continued to provide the kind of physicality Knicks fans love, especially on a wild rebound that swung the game in the final minute.
The Knicks were up 100-98 when Hart came flying from across the court to pull down a missed Myles Turner 3-pointer. Instead of Indiana getting a chance at tying the game or taking the lead with some second-chance points, Hart drew a foul and made a pair of free throws to put the Knicks up four points with 20 seconds left.
It was all Indiana early
For about 35 minutes of game time, you couldn’t have blamed the Gainbridge Fieldhouse fans for thinking it would be this easy.
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Losses like Game 1 have broken teams before, and Pascal Siakam’s 39-point outburst in Game 2 left New York short on answers. The game was close early, but a 29-9 run in the second quarter put Indiana up by 20 points, and they cruise with a double-digit led for much of the third quarter.
Vibes were at an all-time high Sunday, with the city also playing host to the Indianapolis 500. The winner of that race, three-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou, even made it to the arena for Game 3.
Sometimes it really is that easy. But these playoffs have made very clear that no double-digit lead is safe, and teams down 2-0 are going to do whatever they can to throw a wrench in the works. We saw that in the Western Conference finals on Saturday, when the Minnesota Timberwolves blew the doors off the high-flying Oklahoma City Thunder and made it a series again.
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