The boldness of slow scoring by the town of Karl Anthony allowed the New York Knicks to beat the Indiana Pacers for the first time in this playoff series.
Karl Anthony Towns scored 20 of 24 points in the fourth quarter, and collected game-high 15 rebounds to help the New York Knicks notch a 106-100 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Indianapolis.
The big fourth quarter was the second mark in the playoff game when New York players scored 20 points in the quarter, and in the process kept the Knicks in the series. Jalen Brunson set a franchise record of 21 quarter against the Pacers in Game 1, the semi-finals of last season.
“When I had the opportunity to do my fourth thing, I was going to make sure I seize the opportunity,” Towns said Sunday. “We just wanted to go there to give our team a chance to win, and we’re happy we did that.”
The town flirted with overheating when it gave New York an 87-85 lead and scored 15 points at the first 3:58 of the quarter. But his offensive explosion was the fuel the Knicks needed.
“Cat [Karl-Anthony Towns] New York director Tom Thibodeau spoke about the town where he performed in under 28 minutes in Game 2’s 114-109 defeat. As long as he is offensive, that’s a huge plus for us. ”
New York will attempt the 2-2 best seven series at Indianapolis on Tuesday night.
“It’s unpredictable,” Branson said of the series. “Obviously, the lead is not safe. Both teams are going to compete to the buzzer.”
Branson scored 23 points despite shooting six-in-a-eighth, but in New York he attempted all 10 free throw attempts in New York, which recovered from a 20-point second-quarter deficit. OG Anunoby scored 16 points, while Mikal Bridges added 15 points to the third seed knicks.
Tyreese Halliburton scored 20 points, while Miles Turner scored 19 at fourth seed Indiana, opening the series with two road wins. Pascal Siakam scored 17 points, while TJ McConnell tallied 12 for the Pacers.
“We didn’t do enough work to keep playing fast,” Halliburton said. “I felt that fourth in particular, I did a poor job of keeping my pace in the game. We’re not half of the 42 points.”
Knicks’ rally is late
The New York comeback was reminiscent of the Eastern Conference semi-finals when the Knicks scored from a 20-point deficit in each of their first two games in Boston, and finally won the victory on the way to win the series in six games.
Indiana led the majority of the game, but needed two free throws from Turner and Siakam. Branson hit the runner 20 seconds later to advance New York.
Josh Hart made two free throws with 19.6 seconds remaining for the Knicks, then Halliburton pulled Indiana within 102-100 with two foul shots with 9.7 seconds remaining.
Branson hit two free throws to a margin of four points with 8.1 seconds left, while Hart rapped two of his own with 2.6 seconds left.
New York was 15 in the second half of the third quarter, dragging it to 80-70 into the fourth quarter, but in the fourth quarter the town raced from Gates.
A three-point play by the town gave the Knicks an 87-85 advantage at 8:02, the team’s first lead since the first quarter.
The Towns raised the final quarter tally to 20 points, draining a 30-foot stepback three-pointer and double-covered to give the Knicks a 5:10 remaining 94-90 lead.
The Knicks scored 43.6% of their shots in the game, with 11 of 32 from behind the arc.
Indiana shot 44.2% from the field, including a shaky 5-for-25 from the 3-point range. The Pacers were stellar during the transition at the 16-2 edge at fast points.
However, Indiana overtook 36-20 when they were unable to slow down town in the final quarter.
“He made some big plays for them,” Siakam said of the town. “We couldn’t get a stop when we needed them. And offensively, we didn’t have the usual pop. We didn’t have the usual ball movement.”
The Pacers took a 58-45 halftime lead. Indiana took the biggest lead in the second quarter with 13 consecutive runs. Halliburton went 55-35 with 3 pointers and stolen 3:20, then 55-35 to go to the half.
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