Pacers Have Themselves To Blame For Blown Lead, Clutch Loss Vs Knicks

Forbes

27-05-2025

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MAY 25: Andrew Nembhard #2 of the Indiana Pacers dribbles the ball against ... More Josh Hart #3 of the New York Knicks during the second quarter in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on May 25, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by)
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Pacers felt like they were on top of the world. Late in the second quarter of their Game 3 battle against the New York Knicks in the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals, they took a 20-point lead via a dunk in transition from guard Tyrese Haliburton. Just over three minutes remained until halftime.
Haliburton grabbed his uniform and puffed out the 'Indiana' for the crowd to see. Forward Obi Toppin gave him a chest bump. Ben Sheppard rubbed his shoulders. The Knicks took a timeout as Gainbridge Fieldhouse got louder. Holding a 2-0 series lead, the Pacers looked invincible.
When the game ended, those emotions were gone. The Pacers lost, and painfully. From that point on – about 27 minutes of game action in total – New York dominated, winning that span of game action 71-45.
The final score was Knicks 106, Pacers 100. The second half was a mess for the blue and gold, who couldn't get stops and completely lost their identity on offense. New York deserves credit for making important changes that slowed the Pacers. But Indiana knows that this loss is on them. They weren't themselves couldn't get to the finish line.
'We felt like we were in a position to win and didn't do a good job in the second half,' Haliburton said.
A crucial stretch, and one that head coach Rick Carlisle called out as problematic postgame, came at the end of the third quarter. Despite a mediocre frame to that point, Carlisle's team led by 15 with just over two minutes to go before the final period. They had a chance to hold the line and take a big lead into the fourth quarter.
Instead, the Knicks hit hard. Miles McBride scored seven points in 71 seconds, and the Pacers didn't get a shot on the rim in that span. By the end of the quarter, their lead was down to 10. Momentum was gone, though a 10-point edge is still significant.
It went away quickly. Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns had the best stretch of his series, scoring or assisting on every point as New York put 16 notches on the scoreboard in under four minutes. In the same span, the Pacers had five. Their 20-point lead was gone. The crowd was out of the game, and the hosts needed answers.
'I don't think our execution was great,' Haliburton said of his team's late-game play. 'Execution down the stretch, we can definitely be better.'
The Pacers starters came back into the game early in the final quarter. That stabilized things somewhat. But the blue and gold had already lost their tempo and juice. Even with a changed lineup, scoring was a challenge. Stopping Towns was still nearly impossible. They reclaimed the lead one more time, but the Knicks instantly answered.
And after a miraculous finish in Game 1 plus solid-enough clutch play in Game 2, Indiana had a chance. The game was tied with 97 seconds to go. But without offensive rhythm, the result was different. The Pacers lost this time. They blew their 20-point lead and didn't look like themselves for much of the game.
'We got a pretty good lead in the third quarter, but didn't do a good enough job of attacking but also avoiding miscues. So, difficult loss,' Carlisle said.
Indiana Pacers forward Obi Toppin (1) looks to pass the ball between New York Knicks forward OG ... More Anunoby, left, and center Karl-Anthony Towns during the second half of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs Sunday, May 25, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The Pacers have no one to blame but themselves in defeat. Almost everything that went against them in the second half was correctable, and they know it.
Towns' explosion was tough to stop. He can flick in difficult jumpers again, and when he's hot it's hard to stop. But he had several paint attacks and strong plays that came from post touches, and Indiana never found a way to slow those plays down. Towns' drives were powerful. He never saw a double team, even without Knicks star Jalen Brunson on the floor. The big man crushed the blue and gold.
'He got going. He was able to stretch the floor,' Pacers center Myles Turner said of that Towns' run. Carlisle and members of the roster acknowledged that the team didn't do a good job of defending him during that stretch.
On offense, the Pacers stopped channeling their identity. They were slow – Game 3 was tied for the team's second-slowest game of the postseason. Human nature crept in when they grabbed a big lead. They played content and lacked urgency.
Snapping out of unworried play is difficult, and Indiana found out the hard way. When they dialed in, the Knicks had already erased much of the deficit and had rhythm. The Pacers did not. Up-tempo play is the hallmark of the Pacers – they want to get into the paint and move the ball. But they did none of that. They slowed down and hunted mismatches, which can work but isn't Pacers basketball.
Even when the hosts did look for specific defenders, they didn't execute well. They played themselves out of fruitful situations as they tried to ramp up their intensity, and they simultaneously couldn't get stops to get easier chances in transition. Everything looked off. The team almost found enough successes to win anyway thanks to their strong first half, but they scored just 42 points across quarters three and four.
'I didn't think we [were] playing as fast,' Pacers All-Star forward Pascal Siakam said. 'We didn't really attack the paint as much.'
The Pacers have since admitted that it's not necessarily something the Knicks did or changed that slowed them down. Instead, the team believes they weren't themselves. New York had defensively-focused groups on the floor for much of the second half, but that largely hasn't mattered throughout the series. No team has found a unit capable of stopping the Pacers in the playoffs so far.
If the Pacers simply were themselves for a longer period, they might have won. They could be up 3-0. Instead, it's back to the drawing board in an attempt to recapture momentum. They need to be better to win.
'We can fix it,' guard Andrew Nembhard said.
Game 4 is Tuesday night. The Pacers will do everything they can to get out of their own way.