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Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns combined for 56 points as the New York Knicks kept their NBA playoff campaign alive with a 111-94 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday. Trailing 3-1 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals, the Knicks roared back to life in front of a star-studded Madison Square Garden crowd with a wire-to-wire win that sets up a game six in Indianapolis on Saturday.
Knicks talisman Brunson was once again the standout performer for New York, finishing with 32 points including four three-pointers. Towns, whose presence in the New York line-up was only confirmed shortly before tip-off following a left knee injury in game four, was also a pivotal figure with 24 points and 13 rebounds. "We were just able to get stops early and we would convert. We just found a way,"
Brunson told TNT television. "I just felt like we played better. We played to our standards. Give them credit for the way they played, but we played Knicks basketball tonight." Towns said there was never any chance of him not lining up. "It was do or die - nothing was going to stop me from playing this game," Towns said.
Brunson set the tone, rattling in 14 points as the Knicks sprinted into an early 23-13 lead in the first quarter. Although Indiana came back to cut the lead to 27-23 at the end of the first, the Knicks continued to control possession, unsettling Indiana with the speed of their fast break offense and neutralising Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton.
