The Knicks wanted their finisher greater than ever.
A 20-point lead had turned to 10 in a matter of minutes, and the Indiana Pacers’ first massive run in Sport 5 of the Japanese Convention Finals had a sellout Madison Sq. Backyard crowd holding its collective breath.
However on an evening the Knicks required all fingers on deck, their captain helped them stem the tide.
Jalen Brunson’s third-quarter heroics, together with a well timed four-point play, helped safe the Knicks’ 111-94 win on Thursday evening, holding their season alive for a minimum of two extra days.
Brunson’s five-footer with just below 4 minutes left within the third quarter snapped a Pacers 10-0 run.
Two possessions later, Brunson drilled a stepback 3-pointer by means of contact from Obi Toppin, falling to the bottom because the ball rattled by means of the ring. When he accomplished the four-point play with a free throw, the Knicks’ lead was again as much as 17 factors with 2:56 left within the third.
Brunson scored 16 factors in that third quarter and completed with a game-high 32 on 12-of-18 capturing with 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
The Knicks now path 3-2 within the best-of-seven collection. Solely 4.4% of the groups to fall behind 3-1 have come again – however 16.1% have overcome 3-2 deficits.
Karl-Anthony Cities, on an ailing left knee, contributed 24 factors on 10-of-20 capturing and 13 rebounds.
That was greater than sufficient offense on an evening the Knicks delivered their greatest defensive effort of the collection.
They restricted the Pacers’ high-powered offense to 40.5% capturing, together with 33.3% from 3-point vary.
Mikal Bridges repeatedly met Tyrese Haliburton within the backcourt, serving to to carry the All-Star level guard to eights on 2-of-7 capturing with six assists.
A lineup of Cities, Josh Hart, Landry Shamet, Miles McBride and Delon Wright gave the Knicks high quality defensive minutes, holding up even because the Pacers repeatedly attacked Cities.
The group chanted Shamet’s title after he pressured a turnover on T.J. McConnell with 9:38 left within the fourth.
After the Pacers reduce the deficit to 96-84 with 8:15 left within the fourth, the Knicks stopped Indiana on 5 straight possessions.
The Knicks rolled with the identical revamped beginning lineup as Video games 3 and 4, with the rim-protecting Mitchell Robinson in for Josh Hart. Cities began regardless of struggling an ugly-looking left knee contusion late in Sport 4.
Gradual begins plagued the Knicks all through the collection, however they punched first Thursday. Brunson scored on the Knicks’ first three possessions and assisted on the following one with an alley-oop lob to Robinson.
Again-to-back 3-pointers by Brunson gave the Knicks a 23-13 lead with 4:23 left within the quarter.
The Knicks’ protection additionally began higher – Cities’ work off of a display contributed to a Haliburton airball in a single telling sequence – because the Pacers started 5-of-16 from the sphere.
Brunson scored 14 factors on 6-of-9 capturing within the first, however the Knicks led solely 27-23 after Indiana ended one other quarter on a run, persevering with a development from Sport 4.
With Brunson on the bench to begin the second, Cities took over.
He scored the Knicks’ first seven factors of the quarter and was lining as much as full a three-point play — for his tenth level of the interval — when Brunson checked again with 5:42 left earlier than halftime.
The Knicks led 56-45 on the break. Cities had 12 factors within the second quarter and a game-high 17 factors on 7-of-11 capturing on the half.
But the story of the half was the Knicks’ protection.
The Pacers shot simply 37.5% and managed solely seven fastbreak factors within the first half. Haliburton completed the primary half with 4 factors on 0-of-3 capturing.
Brunson caught hearth once more to start the third, scoring the Knicks first eight factors, together with a three-point play and a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions.
A pair of OG Anunoby free throws put the Knicks up 72-52 on the 6:32 mark of the third.
The Pacers responded with a 10-0 run, however the Knicks answered with baskets on their subsequent 5 possessions – together with Brunson’s four-point play – to open a game-high 22-point lead with 2:12 remaining.Brunson’s play had fallen beneath scrutiny within the convention finals.
He bought into foul hassle in Video games 1 and three. Cities led a fourth-quarter comeback in Sport 3 with Brunson on the bench. Brunson was a -16 within the Knicks’ Sport 4 loss.
However the NBA’s Clutch Participant of the 12 months got here up massive with the Knicks’ season on the road.
Thursday marked a return to the Backyard, the place the Knicks blew a 17-point lead in a back-breaking Sport 1 loss and faltered defensively down the stretch of their Sport 2 defeat.
The Knicks cut up the video games in Indiana, unleashing a 20-point comeback of their Sport 3 win earlier than being burned badly by turnovers of their Sport 4 loss.
However the Knicks bounced again at house on Thursday and averted — a minimum of for now — struggling a season-ending defeat on the Backyard to the Pacers, who eradicated them there in Sport 7 of their second-round collection final 12 months.
With Thursday’s win, the Knicks improved to 4-5 on the Backyard this postseason.
The Knicks are attempting to develop into the 14th workforce in NBA historical past (out of 297) to come back again from a 3-1 deficit. They search to develop into the primary workforce to win a convention finals after dropping Video games 1 and a pair of at house.
The Knicks may even the collection in Sport 6 on Saturday evening because the collection shifts again to Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Initially Revealed: Might 29, 2025 at 10:49 PM EDT
