The New York Knicks are down to their last life, as they dropped Game 4 to the Indiana Pacers 130-121 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Tuesday night.
New York heads back to the Big Apple on the brink of elimination as they trail the Pacers 3-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam carried the Pacers to a 3-1 series lead, as the guard and forward duo combined for 62 points, 17 rebounds, and 17 assists. Their 62 combined points were responsible for 47.6% of the team’s points for the game.
Haliburton recorded a triple-double, finishing with 32 points, 12 rebounds, and 15 assists. He’s the third player in NBA playoff history to record 30 points, 10 rebounds, 15 assists in a game and no turnovers, joining Oscar Robinson (twice) and Nikola Jokic. He also added four steals on the defensive side of the basketball.
All series long, the Knicks’ transition defense has been a mess, which has played to Indiana’s strengths – a fast-paced offense. In this one, New York turned the ball over 17 times, with Hart being responsible for five of them. He also fouled out with 1:44 to go in the final frame with the Knicks trailing 121-114.
“We knew it would be a fast game,” said Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau. “We hurt ourselves with our turnovers, putting them in the open floor.”
The Pacers recorded 20 points off of New York’s turnovers, and their starters alone recorded 10.
“It’s tough to win against a team like that who turns those turnovers to points,” Hart said. “I had like four or five, just stupid turnovers.”
Thibodeau went with the same lineup from their 20-point comeback win in Game 3, but they couldn’t find that same luck in Game 4. Mitchell Robinson joined Karl-Anthony Towns, Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby while Josh Hart came off the bench.
Brunson did all he could, pouring in a 29-point effort while shooting at a nearly 50% clip and knocking down 11-of-12 attempts from the charity stripe.
One of New York’s two blockbuster summer acquisitions had quite the night, while the other struggled to make his presence felt offensively. Towns notched 22 points, 10 rebounds, and shot at an efficient 50% from the field.
New York will have an uphill battle the rest of the way, having to come back trailing 3-1 in the series, but they’ll have to do so with a banged-up Towns. From the looks of it, in the fourth quarter, he collided his knee with a member of the Pacers late in the quarter and went down in anguish. His status is unknown.
“He was able to go back in, so that’s a good sign,” Thibodeau said. “We’ll see where he is after he gets evaluated.”
The Knicks are back in action Thursday night with their season on the line. They must win out to make it to the NBA finals. Tip-off for Game 5 is set for 8 p.m. ET from Madison Square Garden. Only 13 teams in NBA history have ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the series.
