Threatened with the ghost of humiliation, Jalen Brunson rescued the New York Knicks Thursday with a overwhelming 111-93 victory that left the final of East 3-2 against the Indiana Pacers to force the sixth game in Indianapolis. The Knicks had lost the previous two games of the series in the Madison Square Garden and today ran the risk of being eliminated in New York against their people, which, which I had waited 25 years to see the team again in some Eastern finals.
Brunson led New York with 32 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, While Karl-Anthony Towns, key in the first half before being charged with personal, ended with 24 points and 13 rebounds. The Knicks annulled the titular quintet of the Pacers and left Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam, Indiana's main offensive weapons, with 23 points between the two. In fact, the Pacers bench contributed more than 60 % of the team points (57 of 94). The top scorer of the Pacers was the substitute Bennedict Mathurin, who touched the double-double with 23 points and 9 rebounds. That of tonight was the first game of the 15 that have played in these 'playoffs' the Pacers in which Indiana were below 100 points. Until today, they were the only team in these 'playoffs' with more than 100 points in each game.
But the Knicks became strong in defense, surpassing the Pacers in the 54-47 rebound (including 11-8 offensives) and forcing 19 losses for Indiana, for only 15 New York. The series now moves to Indianapolis for the sixth game, which will be played this Saturday. The mission for the Knicks is still titanic: only 13 teams have managed to overcome a 3-1 on the 297 occasions when a team has been in that situation in the history of the NBA.
Indiana or New York are awaited in the NBA finals the Oklahoma City Thunder, who last night proclaimed west champions, after defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves 4-1.
The Knicks are entrenched in defense
The New York Knicks jumped tonight to Madison Square Garden with the lesson learned from the fourth game in Indianapolis: hardening their defense and avoiding ball losses. They noted in their first three possessions – the first six points of Jalen Brunson – and They forced losses in the first two plays of the Indiana Pacers. The Knicks dominated the start -up game to end, without even allowing the Pacers to match.
Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns fly to the Knicks, who played New York's pride on the edge of elimination. The Dominican signed a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds to rest, while Brunson had scored 14. The Knicks closed the first quarter 27-23 and the first half 56-45. Its maximum advantage in the second quarter became 14 points.
With a devastating start of the second half, the Knicks were put at 20 (72-52), playing a march more than the Pacers, which loss after loss received a dose of their own medicine. However, the fourth personal lack of Towns in Ecuador in the third quarter made Tom Thibodeau sit and change the course of the party momentarily. The Pacers then signed a 2-12 partial to approach only 10 points and put fear in the body of Madison, but the Knicks knew how to respond with a partial 12-0, which brought the duel to a new maximum advantage of +22 for New Yorkers.
The result at the end of the third quarter was 90-73. The Pacers disturbed some Knicks unable to close the game when they put 12 points at the beginning of the last quarter. But again, Indiana's effort was insufficient before some Knicks that keep the series alive.
