Goin' back to Indiana: Knicks find their groove in Game 5, beat Pacers to keep series alive
NEW YORK – Jalen Brunson scored 32 points to lead the Knicks to a 111-94 win over the Pacers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night, avoiding elimination and forcing a Game 6 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday night.
The Pacers still hold a 3-2 series lead.
Karl-Anthony Towns added 24 points and 13 rebounds. Wings Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges added 12 points each. Bennedict Mathurin led the Pacers with 23 points and eight rebounds. Pascal Siakam added 15 points and forward Obi Toppin added 11.
Backs-to-the-wall games like these tend to bring out the best in a team's stars, who are often the ones most determined not to let their season's end. Such was the case Thursday as Knicks All-NBA picks Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns played some of their best basketball of the series.
Brunson established in the first quarter that he didn't plan to go quietly, scoring 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting including 2-of-3 from 3-point range. Then Towns took over in the second quarter with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Neither had any trouble getting to their spots and forcing the ball into the paint and Brunson was spectacular from outside.
Brunson finished with 32 points on 12-of-18 shooting including 4-of-7 from 3-point range. Towns scored 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting and also grabbed 13 rebounds.
After a mostly seamless offensive performance on Tuesday in Game 4 that included one of the most efficient offensive statlines by a point guard in playoff history in Tyrese Haliburton's triple-double, the Pacers never seemed to be able to get out of their own way on Thursday. Their offensive flow was choppy from the very beginning, the defense was never able to keep the ball out of the paint and none of their desperate attempts at a jump start seemed to work.
Bennedict Mathurin scored 23 points mostly by driving through hell and high water. He was 6-of-10 from the floor and 9-of-9 to the line. Pascal Siakam willed himself to 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting but the Pacers couldn't seem to get anything going otherwise. Haliburton followed his 32-point, 15-assist, 10-rebound, zero-turnover effort with just eight points on 2-of-7 shooting. Forward Aaron Nesmith seemed to be feeling some of his sprained right ankle and finished with just three points on 1-of-8 shooting. Center Myles Turner finished with just five points and two rebounds and struggled on both ends of the floor.
The Pacers shot just 40.5% from the floor and 10-of-30 from beyond the 3-point arc and posted 0.96 points per possession. Meanwhile the Knicks shot 49.4% from the floor and posted a 1.08 efficiency figure. The Knicks outscored the Pacers 60-34 in the paint and 13-7 on second-chance points.
After scoring a total of eight points in the Cavs series, Pacers second-year wing and 2023 No. 8 pick Jarace Walker didn't play at all in the first four games of the Eastern Conference finals. Things got messy enough in the early going on Thursday, though, that he got real meaningful minutes.
Walker's first appearance came with 2:56 to go in the second quarter thanks to Myles Turner foul trouble and Aaron Nesmith apparently working his way through the ankle sprain that had him listed as questionable for Game 4. Walker stepped in and made a small but noticeable impact, helping the Pacers get a stop on his first defensive possession with two contests on one play. A few possessions later he drilled a 3-pointer off a kickout from Tyrese Haliburton.
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Miami Herald
42 minutes ago
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