Pacers 138, Knicks 135 (OT): Scenes from an opportunity blown by a Nesmith barrage

New York collapses in crunch time and blows Game One in overtime.

In the first game of the ECF, the Indiana Pacers (1-0) opened blazing hot, but behind Mitchell Robinson’s hustle, balanced scoring, and a 13–1 second-quarter run, the New York Knicks (0-1) recovered from an early deficit to take a 69–62 halftime lead. (That tied the Knicks record for first-half points.) Things looked rosy—and continued to until about 3:30 left in the fourth. Then an Aaron Nesmith three-point barrage flipped a 17-point deficit to send the game to overtime. In the extra frame, New York opened strong but collapsed late, as Indiana capitalized on missed calls and key mistakes—closing with an Obi Toppin dunk to steal a 138–135 win.

Jalen Brunson finished with 43 points on 15-of-25 shooting. By logging his 18th playoff game with 30+ points, he tied Patrick Ewing for the franchise record. Karl-Anthony Towns added a 35-point, 12-board double-double. Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby both scored 16 points and combined for five blocks and four steals. Josh Hart finished with 13 rebounds, eight points, and seven assists.

For Indiana, Nesmith hit 8-of-9 from deep to score 30 points, and Tyrese Haliburton contributed 31 points and 11 dimes.

What stings the most about this loss? For 45 minutes, New York played elite basketball. If not for Nesmith losing his mind and a lucky Haliburton buzzer-bounce, this game was in the bag. Matthew Miranda will say it better. Here’s what I saw.

First Half

Indiana made their first eight shots, with all five Pacers scoring, to take an 18-14 lead. The Hoosiers didn’t miss their first shot until 6:15. Mitchell Robinson checked in soon after and found himself at the foul line. No perfect shooting for him tonight—but in five first-quarter minutes, Mitch would record two points, three offensive rebounds, a steal, a block, and an assist. Bueno, no?

Myles Turner made all five of his shots, helping the Hoosiers assemble a seven-point lead.

New York tied the game thanks to Robinson crashing the glass, three-pointers from McBride and Josh Hart, a jumper from Mikal Bridges, and an alley-oop from Brunson to Mitch. With a great close to the quarter—including a theft by Robinson—New York finished ahead, 36-34.

The teams started Q2 trading baskets. Turnovers and fouls let Indiana edge ahead 44–41, but swift ball movement plus buckets by Cameron Payne, Towns, and Bridges put our heroes up midway through the quarter. When OAKAAKUYOAK Obi Toppin blew a dunk, his Pacers had not scored a bucket in over three minutes, while New York had enjoyed a 13-1 run.

Thibs would have sent him to the showers for this:

Indiana chipped at New York’s eight-point advantage. Tyrese Haliburton scored five straight to cut their deficit to one, but with another strong close to a quarter, the Knicks entered intermission ahead, 69-62.

Both teams shot 51% from the field. New York held a slight edge from three (42% to 38%), dominated the glass (23–19), and scored more in the paint (32–20). The Knicks conceded 12 points off five turnovers but had surrendered just eight fast break points to the league’s speediest team. Brunson’s 18 topped all scorers; Haliburton led the Pacers through the first half with 14 points and six assists.

Second Half

Anunoby blocked on one end, dunked on the other, and New York went up by nine early in the half. Aaron Nesmith, primarily guarding Brunson tonight, worked Cap into an offensive foul, and Indiana chiseled the difference down to three.

Brunson collected his fourth foul at 4:30 but redeemed himself with an and-one. Then, off a Deuce miss, Robinson grabbed another O-board which found Brunson for a jumper. Beautiful basketball! All of Mitch’s rebounds were offensive so far because he hounded the three-point line on the defensive end. Beautiful Mitch!

The whistles came more frequently in the quarter. Everyone complained. Have you ever seen a ref rescind a foul because a player whined in his face? Me, neither.

New York took a 90-87 lead into the final frame. Brunson fouled Tammy Jean McConnell after just two minutes to collect his fifth. Then Anunoby dropped five straight huge points to extend New York’s lead to seven again. Every Knick played great—including McBride who stuffed Siakam at the rim, reminiscent of his block on Derrick White in the Boston Series.

While Brunson looked on, New York scored 12 straight. Their lead touched 16 just ahead of the seven-minute mark and hit 14 at 3:30. Smooth sailing? Not quite. Haliburton and Nesmith hit triples, and Siakam hit a free throw to make it a seven-point game with one minute remaining. Nesmith, a flamethrower tonight, hit two more treys, cutting the score to 123-118 with 34 seconds on the clock.

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Off a miss, Siakam was called for a foul on Anunoby with 30 seconds to go. Rick Carlisle challenged, and the call was overturned. The villains regained possession. Nesmith hit another trey, and it was a two-point game with 22 seconds left after a 16-4 run.

Brunson managed to inbound the ball to Hart—it was hairy—and the ball found Towns, who was fouled by Obi. Towns hit one freebie. Thomas Bryant grabbed the ball, and Indiana called for time. Anunoby smartly fouled Nesmith, who made both free throws. New York barely got the ball to Anunoby—fouled by Siakam and made one of two.

Haliburton got a shot off at the buzzer and a lucky bounce—but his foot was on the line! Premature choke sign and overtime!

Overtime

New York opened the extra period with a 5-0 run. The refs missed a goaltend by Myles Turner, and Andrew Nembhard netted a triple, then a layup. Nesmith whacked the hell out of Brunson, Towns aggravated his knee (apparently), and four players were playing with five fouls. What once looked like a runaway became a war of attrition. Captain Clutch scored six of New York’s 10 points; Haliburton sliced through New York’s defense like butter. With a Nembhard layup, Indiana was up 136-135. A loose ball deflected out of bounds off Brunson’s fingers, giving the Hoosiers possession again with 20 seconds left.

Stunningly, the Knicks barely defended the inbound, which found Toppin for a dunk. 15 seconds left. After a timeout, Brunson and Towns both missed three-pointers, and the ball bounced off Bridges out of bounds. Ballgame.

Up Next

Professor Miranda is gathering his notes for your recap. New York hosts Game Two at the Garden on Friday. Rest up, Knickerbockers.

Box Score