A dominant first quarter which saw the Indiana Pacers open up a lead as large as 23 points was more than enough to lead them to a 121-89 victory over the New York Knicks in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinal on Sunday afternoon at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Tyrese Haliburton was one of six Pacers to score in double-digits, leading his side with 20 points to lead Indiana to the series-tying victory, which pivots back to New York on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden at 2-2.
Knicks star Jalen Brunson was held to 18 points — the only Knicks starter to record double-digits in what was the franchise’s fifth-worst loss in playoff history. Their struggles were exacerbated by the absence of OG Anunoby, who was sidelined for a second-straight game with a hamstring injury that has already put his status in doubt for Game 5 on Tuesday.
The man he was responsible for guarding, Pascal Siakam, went 7-of-9 from the field for 14 points.
A stone-cold start from the Knicks immediately put them on the back foot, hitting just five of their first 20 shots of the afternoon. Meanwhile, Indiana shot nearly 70% in the first quarter and opened up a 34-11 lead
Indiana kept its foot on the gas pedal and by the four-minute mark of the second quarter, their lead grew to 26 after a TJ McConnell three-pointer. McConnell scored 15 points off the bench as Pacers reserves helped put an exclamation point on the blowout win, scoring 57 points. The Knicks’ bench posted 50 points of their own, but the starters combined for just 39 points. Brunson and Donte DiVincnezo combined to shoot 9-of-30 from the field.
Any hopes of the Knicks making it a game continued to evaporate with their lack of three-point shooting. They went 1-of-5 from beyond the arc in the second quarter as they entered the break down 28, 69-41. In total, they hit seven three-pointers on 37 attempts for an abysmal 18.9% clip.
By comparison, Indiana went 14-of-31 from three-point range (45.2%) to pave the way to a red-hot shooting display of 56.8% overall from the field. At that clip, the game turned into an embarrassment by the end of the third quarter with the Pacers leading by 38.
It prompted Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau to rest his starters for the final 18 minutes of the night in an attempt to realign for Game 5.
