Karl-Anthony Towns scored 20 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, and Jalen Brunson added 23 points as the New York Knicks rallied from 20 points down to beat the Indiana Pacers 106-100 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Towns also had 15 rebounds on Sunday night as the Knicks cut the series deficit to 2-1 despite having Towns and Brunson in foul trouble most of the night. Game 4 will be played on Tuesday night in Indianapolis.
“We’re built on a great team, great chemistry, great togetherness,” said Brunson after spending much of the closing stages on the bench. “It’s tough watching from the sidelines but I have the upmost confidence in [my teammates].
Tyrese Haliburton led the Pacers with 20 points and six assists. Myles Turner added 19 points as Indiana dropped to 0-4 all-time playing on the same day the Indianapolis 500 was held. Team officials handed out gold-and-blue T-shirts with the words “Vroom Baby” to celebrate the rare Pacers and racers doubleheader after Spain’s Alex Palou won the Indy 500.
Palou received a rousing standing ovation during the second quarter – just as Indiana started pulling away to a 55-35 lead with 3:20 remaining in the half, in front of six players from Indiana’s 2000 Eastern Conference champs including Hall of Famer Reggie Miller.
However, the Pacers failed to put this one away after holding a 68-52 lead early in the third quarter.
New York charged back, cutting the deficit to 80-70 after three quarters. Then behind the strength of Towns and the nimbleness of Brunson, New York finally retook an 89-88 lead on Brunson’s basket with 7:10 to play. The Knicks never led by more than four until the final free throws with 2.6 seconds left.
“When I got the chance … in the fourth I made sure to seize the opportunity,” said Towns. “I just wanted to go out there and give our team the chance to win, I’m just happy I was able to do that.”
The result means the Knicks are the first team in NBA history to stage three 20-point comebacks wins in a single postseason. They also had 20-point comeback wins against the Boston Celtics in the conference semi-finals.
