Jalen Brunson scored 32 points and exhibited seldom-seen defensive intensity against Pacers villain Tyrese Haliburton to spark the Knicks to a 111-94 Game 5 victory over Indiana on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, keeping their season alive for at least a few more nights.
His game-high helped the Knicks start off on the right foot, which has also been a rarity this postseason. Hitting six of his first seven shots, he scored 14 points in the opening quarter to lead a wire-to-wire win.
No dramatics, no ridiculous comebacks needed. Just a solid team win.
“I’m just happy with the way we responded, honestly,” Brunson said. “We came out and had some energy to the way we played. I’m very proud of what we did, and we have to try and replicate it in the first quarter of the next game.”
Haliburton, who was coming off a historic Game 4 in which he became the first player in NBA playoff history to record 30 points, 15 assists, and 10 rebounds with zero turnovers to put the Knicks’ backs against the proverbial wall, was held to just eight points and six assists.
His struggles headlined a Pacers team that looked like a shell of itself. The quick-tempo, aggressive offense that averages roughly 115 points per game this postseason turned the ball over 20 times and was held to under 100 points for the first time in these playoffs.
“I thought our guys were tied together in making [Haliburton] work for everything,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “That’s what you have to do.”
Karl-Anthony Towns, who is dealing with a left-knee injury, scored 24 points with 13 rebounds to support Brunson’s big night. His foul trouble, however, helped create the most unease New York experienced on its otherwise comfortable night.
Leading by as much as 20 in the second half, Towns’ foul trouble prompted Thibodeau to replace him with fellow big man Mitchell Robinson. Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle implemented the hack-a-Mitch tactic, as his team intentionally fouled the center to send him and his 52.2% career free-throw clip to the charity stripe.
With it, Indiana halved its deficit, but Brunson took over to spark a 12-0 run to build a 22-point lead and put Game 5 out of sight.
The Knicks will look to take the next step toward history in becoming just the 14th team in NBA history to overturn a 3-1 series deficit when they head back to Indiana for Game 6 on Friday night.
