By Geoffrey Latayan
The New York Knicks stayed alive in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals with a 111-94 win over the Indiana Pacers in Game 5 of their best-of-seven series at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
New York successfully shackled Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, limiting him to eight points on 2-of-7 shooting from the field on the way to reducing the series deficit to 3-2.
Jalen Brunson top scored for the Knicks, dropping 32 points, including four three-pointers.
Karl-Anthony Towns, meanwhile, bucked a left-knee injury in Game 4 to come up with a 24-point, 13-rebound double-double.
Brunson’s opening blows set the tone
Brunson dropped 14 of his points in the first quarter to give New York a 23-13 spread early.
Although Indiana rallied and cut the deficit to four, Brunson and the Knicks pounced on the Pacers’ poor field-goal marksmanship and took a 56-45 half-time edge.
Indiana then slashed a 20-point New York lead to just 10 points in the third quarter, but the Knicks regrouped and stretched their lead once more before closing out the win to keep the series alive.
In the process, Towns fought off the aforementioned injury and delivered one of his best performances for New York.
He was 10-of-20 from the field and limited his Indiana counterpart, Myles Turner, to just five points.
“It was do or die – nothing was going to stop me from playing this game,” the former first-overall pick said.
Mikal Bridges added 12 points, three rebounds, five assists, and one steal, while Josh Hart contributed 12 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
OG Anunoby was the fifth Knicks player in double figures with 11 points, four rebounds, and three steals.
On the other hand, Bennedict Mathurin led Indiana’s offence with 23 points and nine rebounds, with Pascal Siakam and Obi Toppin adding 15 and 11 points, respectively.
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Haliburton can’t escape New York defence
New York coach Tom Thibodeau successfully held down Haliburton by placing Bridges and bigger defenders on the Iowa State standout.
The Indiana star – who posted a historic 35 points, 15 assists, and 12 rebounds in a triple-double in Game 4 – produced eight markers, six dimes, and two boards in 32 minutes of action.
Haliburton admitted that he failed to get the job done, though, and pledged to be better in Game 6.
New York placed the shackles on Halliburton’s half-court exploits and stopped him from penetrating into the lane that usually gives him the chance to create for his teammates.
“I’ve got to be better at setting the tone, getting downhill. I feel like I didn’t do a great job of that but I’ll watch the film,” he said.
“There were some different things they did defensively, but for the most part their base stuff was the same.
“They picked up the pressure a little bit more, trying to apply more as the game went on, but I’ve got to be better and I will be better in Game 6.”
Game 6 is set for Saturday at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis as the Pacers attempt to close out the series and seal a meeting with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals.
The Thunder, for their part, beat the Minnesota Timberwolves by 30 points in Game 5 to win the Western Conference Finals 4-1 and clinch a ticket to the showpiece starting on June 5.
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