Pacers 130, Knicks 121: Scenes from Haliburton’s inevitable big game

We knew it was coming sometime.

In Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals, Indiana’s Aaron Nesmith stole the show. Game Two was Pascal Siakam’s turn. We figured Tyrese Haliburton would have a breakout game eventually—and so he did tonight in Game Four, when his Pacers beat the New York Knicks 130-121 at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Haliburton’s final stat-line: 32 points, 15 assists, a career-high 12 rebounds, and zero turnovers in 38 minutes. Not so overrated after all?

The Knicks won the glass 44-33 (13 O-Boards), hit 46% from the field, and made 12-of-28 from deep. Not bad numbers, but this game was never in doubt. Overall, the Pacers shot 51% from the floor, out-dimed New York 29-17, and parlayed 17 turnovers into a 22-9 fast-break edge. They controlled the paint 50-44 and stretched their lead to as much as 15. Siakam added 30 points to their total.

For New York, Jalen Brunson finished with 31 points in 37 minutes, an injured Karl-Anthony Towns logged a 24-point, 12-board double-double, and Josh Hart added 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Tonight, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau fielded his successful starting lineup from Sunday’s Game Three. It led to another evenly matched start. Both teams made four of their first six shots, but threes are worth more than twos, and while the Knicks were able to score paint-wise, the Hoosiers hit deep-wise. With four minutes spent, the home team went up 16-9. The Knicks really must prefer starting from behind.

Towns, favoring his sore left knee, collected two fouls in four minutes. Thibs subbed in Josh Hart, and the Knicks went on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 18. Then, with Towns warming the pine and Mitchell Robinson panting, Precious Achiuwa played his first minutes of the series in the back half of the quarter. His two minutes of play proved enough for Thibs.

The teams traded buckets, including a couple of triples from Brunson. Indiana shot 75% from deep, though, and also racked up fast break points. Their 10-2 run to end the quarter put them ahead 43-35. A 78-point first quarter—no defensive clinics taught so far tonight.

To start the second, Towns returned, and Delon Wright entered for Brunson. At two minutes past, Landry Shamet replaced Miles McBride. A crafty blend of starters and subs clawed back to even the score, capped by a big corner three by Wright and an acrobatic Anunboy layup, with seven-ish minutes left.

From there, the teams traded buckets, leads, and steals. Indiana’s six unanswered points to close the half gave them a 69-65 lead.

In a half that saw 10 ties and 13 lead changes, Indiana was the better shooting squad (56 % overall, 50 % from three) and turned New York’s nine giveaways into a 17-2 fast-break blitz. Haliburton had 20 points and 10 assists for the Hoosiers. The Knicks made 52% of their shots and 7-of-17 from deep and outrebounded by four. Jalen Brunson had scored 16 in 17 minutes on 6-of-13 shooting.

Two immediate turnovers (Brunson, Bridges) and four ugly bricks put New York in a 12-point hole to start the third. Ghosts of third quarters past began to rattle their chains. Then KAT dropped a monster slam, Myles Turner stepped out of bounds, and Mitchell Robinson swished two free throws—things were looking up! When Towns collected a bucket and an and-one, New York was within seven.

Brunson scored at the free throw line (nine in Q3) to cut the deficit to five at one point. The Pacers faithful chanted “Flopper,” which seemed to only sharpen Jalen’s accuracy. New York kept getting close but could not get over the hump and take control. Indiana held the door open, too, missing shots and turning the ball over late in the quarter. New York just failed to charge ahead. Instead, in the final minute, Haliburton swished a triple, Bennedict Mathurin hit a free throw, and Hart put Tony Bradley with 1.1 seconds left. Another crappy close to a quarter. Heading into the fourth, our heroes were behind, 102-91.

Thibs sent out McBride, Shamet, Hart, Anunoby, and Towns, presumably to save Brunson and Bridges for later use. Despite a Shamet three-pointer, these guys were quickly down by 15—miscommunication on defense led to a Mathurin dunk, and Siakam answered with five points in under 20 seconds. Thibs begged for time and replaced Deuce with Delon.

A massive three-pointer by OG at the 9:30 mark let us all breathe again—then McConnell traveled, and New York had momentum. Never fear, Pacers fans, because the refs had the antidote. Suspicious fouls called on Towns and Hart and a foul not called on an OG drive extinguished New York’s flame with about eight minutes left and preserved a 14-point lead.

Josh Hart made 3-of-4 from the line and Anunoby missed two around the middle of the quarter. Fortunately, New York benefited from Indy bricks, Bridges hit a three, and Anunoby redeemed himself at the charity stripe. After a Nembhard miss, Towns scored on a put-back to cap a 10-2 run. Siakam and Bridges traded triples. Haliburton drove easily to the lane for the 1000th time tonight, but Hart answered with a put-back bucket. With three minutes to go, six points separated the score.

Turner hit a free throw. Anunoby committed a charge. Towns and Nesmith appeared to crack knees with just over two minutes left. Both writhed in pain on the floor, but Towns suffered the worst. He was barely able to walk and hiding his face in his jersey but limped onto the court after a timeout. (Thibs successfully challenged the foul called on Karl).

In the final two minutes, Bridges missed thrice from deep, Hart and Turner fouled out, and the ‘Bockers trailed by seven with a minute remaining. Thibs sent Shamet in rather than Deuce, who had attempted just three shots in 15 minutes tonight. Towns played on one leg until the buzzer, but when Toppin canned a triple with 46 seconds left, the game was clearly over.

Up Next

Monsieur Miranda is prepping your recap. The series continues on Thursday in NYC for Game Five. Safe travels, Knickerbockers.

Box Score