NEW YORK — The New York Knicks’ season continues for at least one more game after a 111-94 Game 5 victory over the Indiana Pacers Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
Earning their first home win in the series, the Knicks head back to Indianapolis on Saturday night to try to force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals and attempt to become the 14th team in NBA history to come back from a 3-1 best-of-seven series deficit.
New York started out aggressively from the outset, with All-NBA performers Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns setting the tone, especially on the defensive end. Indiana is the first team in the series to score less than 100 points in a game, and the loss snapped their six-game road playoff winning streak.
Here are the winners and losers from Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks:
GAME 5 RECAP, HIGHLIGHTS: Knicks stave off elimination at The Garden
Winners
Jalen Brunson
The Clutch Player of the Year came up clutch again, scoring 16 points in the third quarter, capped by a four-point play for the Knicks, who led by as many as 22 points. Brunson, who hit four three-pointers, scored 32 points and also had five rebounds and five assists, using a variety of moves to get into the paint to score easy buckets.
Karl Anthony Towns
Towns, who played with a bruised left knee, again bullied his way to the paint with 24 points (17 in the first half) and 13 rebounds as New York outscored Indiana 60-34 in the paint. Towns was big in the second quarter – after Brunson was held scoreless – with 12 points as the Knicks extended their lead. Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart scored 12 points each, and OG Anunoby had 11 in a balanced scoring effort.
Knicks’ lockdown defense
New York gave up 43 points to Indiana in the first quarter of Game 4, as the Pacers scored more than 130 points for the second time in the series. On Thursday, Indiana was held to 45 in the first half.
Both teams were horrible from the 3-point line. Indiana shot 10-30 (33.3%), and the Knicks hit only eight of their 29 attempts (27.6%), but New York more than made up for it by dominating in the paint and never letting Indiana’s fast-paced offense get out of the starting block.
Losers
Pacers starters
Pascal Siakam was the only Indiana starter who scored in double figures with 15 points, six rebounds and five assists.
The Pacers starting five (Siakam, Aaron Nesmith, Myles Turner, Andrew Nembhard, Tyrese Haliburton) scored just 37 of the team’s 94 points as Indiana shot 40.5% from the field. Haliburton, who had 32 points, 15 assists and 12 rebounds in Game 4, had only eight points (on 2 for-7 shooting) in 32 minutes as he was defended by Mikal Bridges for most of the contest.
‘Sometimes it’s just a combination of him missing some shots he normally makes. I thought our guys were tied together and trying to make him work for everything,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said of Haliburton. That’s what you have to do. You have to fight to win every possession.’
Haliburton only scored or assisted on 24% of the Pacers’ 94 points in Game 5. In the series’ first four games, he scored or assisted on 41% of the team’s points.
The one bright spot was Pacers reserve Bennedict Mathurin, who continued to produce, scoring a team high 23 points in 25 minutes after putting up 20 points in only 12 minutes of playing time in Game 4.
Christmas in May
In Game 4, it was the Knicks who played butterfingers with the ball, with 17 turnovers, leading to 20 Indiana points and 22 on the fastbreak. Live-ball turnovers have been the Achilles heel of both teams in the series, with both coaches, Thibodeau and Indiana’s Rick Carlisle stressing the importance of not throwing the ball away.
Game 5 was a complete reversal with the Pacers in the giving mood, turning the ball over 19 times, leading to 20 New York points.
‘We lost the rebound battle, we lost the turnover battle, we didn’t shoot well,’ Carlisle said. ‘They had a lot to do with it, so give them credit, and we’re going to have to play much better.’