The Knicks have made comebacks commonplace all postseason long, but they will have to pull off their most impressive magic act yet if they want to overturn a 3-1 Eastern Conference Finals deficit against the Indiana Pacers after falling 130-121 in Game 4 on Tuesday night.
Now, they will attempt to become just the 14th team in NBA history to overturn a 3-1 series deficit.
“In true fashion to our whole playoff run, we put ourselves in a deficit, got ourselves out of the deficit, and then usually we feel good about us going into a close game in the fourth quarter and showing our resilience,” Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns said. “But you get burned if you put yourself in that position too many times.”
New York had pulled off a trio of 20-point comebacks during these playoffs, the latest coming as recently as Game 3 in Indiana thanks to Towns’ monster fourth quarter. But there was no such alchemy on Tuesday.
Jalen Brunson, who scored 31 points in the loss, was constantly torched on defense by Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton, who put up a monster triple-double of 32 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists.
He became the first player in NBA postseason history to record a 30-point, 15-assist, 10-rebound triple-double without turning the ball over.
“I’m not doing enough,” Brunson said. “There has to be a difference on my part when it comes to that.”
“It’s not just him. It’s all of us,” Towns said in his attempt to ease the burden on Brunson. “We all have to do a better job of making it more difficult for each of them to score.”
It was, indeed, most of the Knicks falling woefully short on defense in Game 4. While they committed 17 turnovers (Josh Hart had five of them), which led to 22 fast-break points for Indiana, they were smacked for 43 points in the first quarter.
“It’s tough to win against a team like that who turns those turnovers into points,” Hart said. “Just stupid turnovers that you can’t have. That leads to easy baskets, that leads to momentum. We have to be more careful with the ball, starting with myself.”
Brunson and Towns were constantly the targets when the Pacers had the ball, as Pascal Siakam went off for 30 points against New York’s All-Star center. They were just two of the Knicks’ apparent bystanders who were run out of the gym by Indiana’s up-tempo attack.
“I think it’s difficult for any team,” Hart said. “You can stop one action, but then it’s the next action and the next action. If one domino falls, that one person’s mess-up is messing up the whole possession. Obviously, they’re running good stuff, but we have to make sure that we’re physical and locked in and just make it tough for them.”
The Knicks will try to keep their season alive in Game 5 from Madison Square Garden on Thursday night (8 p.m. ET).
