The Knicks overcame a pair of 16-point deficits before Jalen Brunson‘s three-pointer with 4.4 seconds remaining stole a 114-113 win over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night.
Brunson, who was 2-for-8 from the floor in the second half, including missing two attempts with the score tied and under two minutes to play, hit the bucket when it counted. He finished with 25 points on 10-for-23 shooting (3-for-8 from deep) with seven rebounds, seven assists, three steals, but with three turnovers and was a minus-16 in 34 minutes.
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Tyler Kolek, who has been seeing his workload and production increase of late, kept the Knicks in the game with 18 points off the bench and several crucial stretches of solid play deputizing Brunson.
“I was garbage to start the game. And then my stint in the second half was garbage, as well,” Brunson said in a postgame interview. “I want to thank the lord for Tyler Kolek, for playing the way he’s playing and saving me.”
With Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, and Mitchell Robinson (joining Landry Shamet and Miles McBride) out with injury, the Knicks were short-handed and had Mohamed Diawara and Ariel Hukporti in the starting lineup. And the mishmash lineups did not gel for much of the game. Fortunately, Indiana is equally banged up, missing several key contributors, and suffered through stretches of horrible shooting, including going 8-for-26 from the floor in the second quarter and 8-for-24 from the fourth.
Here are the takeaways…
– The first quarter was anything but well-executed basketball for the Knicks, and that set the tone for what would be a sloppy game at times by both sides. Through the game’s first six and a half minutes, New York had committed more turnovers (five) than made field goals (three on 13 attempts) and trailed by 15. Mike Brown called a timeout with his team down 28-12 and Indiana shooting 71.4 percent (10-for-14 from the floor). And, somehow, those numbers beguile what was a dreadful watch as the Knicks trailed by 11 after one.
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Naturally, the Pacers started the second as poorly (3-for-13 from the floor) as the Knicks did the first, and New York (6-for-12 from the floor with several second-chance opportunities) trimmed the lead to three midway through the period. The Knicks got as close as one, but entered the half down 62-59.
The Knicks opened the third 3-for-10 from the floor with four turnovers and allowed Indiana to make it a 13-point lead after six minutes of play. After falling behind by 16, matching the largest deficit to that point, the Knicks cut it to 10, forcing a Rick Carlisle timeout with two to play in the quarter as the Pacers’ bench unit struggled whenever called upon, and the Knicks made it just a six-point game entering the fourth.
Under four minutes into the fourth, the Knicks had their first lead since the game’s opening 100 seconds, with a 10-2 run, and Indiana called for time with New York up 97-94.
But Pascal Siakam, who started poorly, scored seven straight to put the Pacers back up two and give him 22 for the game, forcing a Brown timeout with seven to play. All together, the Pacers used a 15-5 spurt, including Aaron Nembhard connecting on a three to give him 29, to make it a seven-point deficit. After levelling the score with under two to play (thanks to some more poor Indiana shooting), Siakam knocked down from the line with 16.9 to play. Brunson’s bucket sealed it as Siakam fell over on the final inbound play, meaning the Pacers never got a shot at the win.
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– Brunson, who played 12 minutes of the first quarter, had 10 points on 4-for-9 shooting (1-for-4 from deep) with three rebounds, two assists, two steals, and yet was a minus-11. The lone superstar in the game added eight points in the second, and the diminutive guard looked to be head and shoulders better than any other player on the floor. He proved that when it mattered most, despite not having his best night
– Kolek knocked down his first three of the night to start the second and put together several nice passages of play to finish with nine points (4-for-6 shooting) with four assists, two rebounds in the first half, and was a plus-4 in 13 minutes. Kolek was at the heart of all the action to start the fourth four points, an assist, a block, and a charge drawn, giving him 16 for the game and nine assists.
– Mikal Bridges had a quiet start, but started getting more aggressive in the third, hitting three from behind the arc in the third to give him 18 to that point on 7-for-16 shooting. He finished with 22 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and was a plus-9 in 37 minutes.
– OG Anunoby picked up two quick fouls and hit the bench under three minutes into the game. He struggled from the floor (1-for-5, 0-for-2 from deep) in the first half, with four points and three rebounds, but was a plus-6 in 14 minutes. Anunoby, who had a dreadful shooting night through three quarters, connected on a pair of threes when the Knicks needed it to tie the game with 1:51 to play. He finished with 16 points on 5-for-13 shooting with six rebounds, two steals, an assist, and was a plus-11 in 34 minutes.
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– Jordan Clarkson picked up where he left off, knocking down his first three attempts to give him nine first-quarter points, with two threes. He poured in 18 points on 6-for-12 shooting (5-for-9 from deep) with three rebounds and was a plus-7 in 29 minutes.
– Diawara made a hustle play to open the scoring, corralling a steal and driving to the basket for a lay-up. But he looked less than convincing with the ball in his hands, committing two turnovers in the first. He finished with five points (2-for-5) with three rebounds and was a minus-6 in 19 minutes.
– Hukporti finished with four points (1-for-3) with five rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and a steal in 27 minutes.
– Guerschon Yabusele and Trey Jemison were the first two off the bench for Brown in the first quarter’s early minutes. Both had two turnovers and just three points (from Yabusele) in the quarter.
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Yabusele’s struggles continued as he went 1-for-5 from the floor (1-for-4 from deep) for three points, with three rebounds and was a minus-17 in 11 minutes. Jemison finished with five points and five rebounds in 18 minutes.
– As a team, the Knicks shot 46.7 percent (43-for-92) from the floor and 39.5 percent (17-for-43) from deep, and held the Pacers to 46.2 percent overall and a poor 32.4 percent (11-for-34) from deep.
Game MVP: Tyler Kolek
Yes, Brunson made the big shot, but the guard off the bench is the reason this game stayed within reach. He finished with 16 points and was a plus-13 in his 26 minutes.
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Highlights
What’s next
The Knicks are back in action Friday night, hosting the Philadelphia 76ers for a 7 p.m. tip at Madison Square Garden.
