The New York Knicks on Sunday overturned a 20-point deficit as they fought back to beat the Indiana Pacers 106-100 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Knicks cut Indiana’s lead to 2-1 in the series and after losing both games at Madison Square Garden in New York they are now right back in the battle for a place in the NBA Finals.
Karl-Anthony Towns starred for the Knicks with 24 points — 20 of them in an explosive fourth-quarter performance — and he contributed 15 rebounds as New York recorded their joint-largest comeback in a playoff game.
Photo: Gregory Shamus, Getty Images via AFP
The Pacers must now regroup for Game 4 today having let a chance to take a commanding 3-0 lead slip from their grasp.
Jalen Brunson added 23 points, but had five fouls and had to sit for stretches of the game, although the Knicks never let up when he was on the bench.
The Pacers had started strong and were 20 points up late in the second quarter after a 13-0 run which included a three-pointer from Tyrese Haliburton, who followed it up with a huge dunk.
Photo: AP
However, the Knicks responded with a 10-3 run to end the second quarter, and that was emblematic of their effort and proved to be a sign of things to come.
New York ground their way closer and closer, and grabbed the led when Towns drained a 26-foot three-point jumper and then quickly followed up with a violent dunk to make it 86-85 with 8:02 remaining in the game.
Indiana kept in touch, but Towns made a 30-foot three-pointer to put New York 94-90 up, and the Knicks never let that lead slip.
“When I got a chance tonight to do what I do in the fourth, I made sure I was going to seize the opportunity,” said Towns, who made eight-of-17 shots from the floor, including three-of-seven from three-point range, and was five-of-six from the free-throw line.
“I just wanted to go out there and give our team a chance to win. I’m just happy I was able to do that,” he said.
The Knicks have so often depended on Brunson this season, but with their star’s minutes restricted due to his five fouls, they showed their depth.
“That’s what we’re built on,” Brunson told broadcasters TNT. “We’re a great team, great chemistry. Built on togetherness. It’s tough watching from the sidelines, but I got the utmost faith and confidence in them.”
Haliburton led the Pacers with 20 points and six assists while Myles Turner added 19 points, but there was a blow for Indiana when forward Aaron Nesmith limped out of the game midway through the third after he landed badly.
Indiana led 70-57 with 6:06 remaining in the third when Nesmith headed to the locker room with what was later confirmed as a right ankle sprain.
By the time he returned in the fourth quarter, the Knicks were ahead, but coach Rick Carlisle played down the significance of the lead vanishing without Nesmith on court.
“You lose a guy like that, it affects your ability to close a quarter, so maybe there’s a factor there, but we’re not gonna make excuses,” he said. “I mean, we’ve come back from big leads, we lost a lead today. Regardless of who’s out there, we’ve got to be able to attack better and do the things to maintain it and finish the game.”
“So, we just simply did not execute as well as we need to,” he said.
Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday homered for the fifth consecutive game, tying a Los Angeles Dodgers franchise record. Yankees star Aaron Judge was the last player to homer in five consecutive games, accomplishing that feat last year. Ohtani, who leads the National League with 37 home runs, homered in the first inning off Minnesota Twins starter Chris Paddack. He hit a slow curveball 134m to center. He carried the bat midway down the first-base line and then did a bat flip. He did not hit a home run later in the game with the Dodgers trailing, but his presence was felt. With two outs
The 2025 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Mr Universe Chinese Taipei competition began yesterday at Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, with more than 150 athletes showcasing their physiques. It is the first time in 16 years that the IFBB has held a competition in Taiwan, the last being the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung. The professional bodybuilding contest is bringing together athletes from Taiwan and 16 other countries, including Malaysia, Japan, the US, France and Mexico. IFBB Chinese Taipei president Hsu An-chin said in an interview yesterday that the event came to Taiwan thanks to his lobbying efforts at last
Ben O’Connor won Thursday’s monster Alpine stage to the ski resort of Courchevel as three-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar responded to attacks from Jonas Vingegaard and dropped him to cement his grip on the yellow jersey. With just three stages left before the race ends in Paris, Pogacar looks poised to retain his title, with a comfortable lead of more than 4 minutes over Vingegaard, a two-time champion. Stage 18 featured three extremely difficult ascents, including the 26.4km climb of the Col de La Loze to the finish. At 2,304m, La Loze is the highest summit in this year’s Tour. Two
US top seed Taylor Fritz dropped an early yesterday morning marathon to Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina of Spain, while the UK’s Emma Raducanu and Canada’s Leylah Fernandez reached the semi-finals of the ATP and WTA DC Open. World number four Fritz, two points from victory in the ninth game, dropped the last five games in falling to the 26th-ranked Spaniard 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 7-5 after three hours and five minutes in a match ending just before 2am. Davidovich-Fokina advanced to the semi-final against US fourth seed Ben Shelton, who beat sixth-seeded hometown hero Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (7/2), 6-4. Fritz, who had 20 aces and six
RSS