Tyrese Haliburton, Pacers Send Knicks to Brink with 130-121 Game 4 Victory

The Indiana Pacers are one game away from their first NBA Finals appearance in 25 years thanks to a 130-121 victory on Tuesday night in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference Finals series with the New York Knicks. 

Tyrese Haliburton led the Pacers with 35 points, 15 assists, and 12 rebounds (11-for-23 from the field, 5-for-12 from 3-point range), and in doing so became the third player in NBA history with 30 points, 15 assists, and 10 rebounds in a playoff game. The other two you might have heard of. Oscar Robertson and Nikola Jokic. 

Haliburton’s flawless floor game (zero turnovers; the first player in history with 30-10-15-0 line) was in full force on Tuesday as the Pacers ran the Knicks early and often. 

To New York’s credit, they stayed with it early on. With two quick fouls picked up by Karl-Anthony Towns, Jalen Brunson shouldered the load with 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting in a high scoring first quarter as the Pacers took a 43-35 lead after one. Haliburton registered 15 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds as the Pacers went on a 12-5 run to conclude the quarter and put up a franchise playoff record 43 points in the quarter. Indiana shot 15-for-22 from the field in the opening 12 minutes while the Knicks shot 56.5% from the field. Pascal Siakam scored 11 in the quarter on 4-of-7 shooting. 

The Knicks started to come back in the second with OG Anunoby (22 points, 7-for-16 for the game) hitting on a mid-range jump shot to cut the deficit to five, 47-42. A driving layup by the forward where he stumbled into a crafty finish tied the game at 51, the Knicks in the midst of a 9-0 run. Anunoby tied the game at 60 with a driving layup with 2:12 on the clock in the first half, but an Andrew Nembhard triple made the score 63-61 Pacers. A spinning layup by Aaron Nesmith gave the Pacers a 67-64 lead, and a Tony Bradley finish on a feed from Haliburton put the Pacers up 69-64, which would be the halftime score.

Haliburton registered a near triple-double in the opening half - 20 points, 10 assists, and 9 rebounds on 6-for-12 shooting and 4-for-7 from downtown. Siakam contributed 13, Nesmith 12, and Bennedict Mathurin 8. Brunson scored 16 in the first 24 minutes while Towns scored 14 points on 4-for-5 shooting. The Pacers shot 55.6% in the opening half while the Knicks shot 52.4%. 

The Pacers outscored the Knicks 33-27 in the third quarter to take a 102-91 lead into the final 12 minutes. Brunson scored 13 in the third quarter for the Knicks while Siakam scored six, including the first two Pacer baskets of the quarter to give them a 73-64 lead. 

With 9:52 remaining in the fourth, Siakam hit two shots - one of them a corner three ball - on two Mathurin assists to spread the lead to 15 at 111-96. The Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd was frenzied as the Knicks called timeout and TNT went to a commercial break. To that point in the game, the Pacers had a 22-2 advantage in fast-break points. 

The Knicks crept back, with Anunoby and Mikal Bridges hitting triples to cut the lead to 10, 115-105. After Brunson missed a floater, Towns rebounded and converted the put-back with 4:24 on the clock. The Knicks were on a 10-2 run and trimmed the lead to six at 115-109. 

Siakam and Bridges alternated triples, and a Haliburton drive and finish made the score 120-112. After Josh Hart was blocked by Myles Turner, Hart retrieved the ball, and went up and finished, leading to a Pacer timeout with 3:06 remaining and the Pacers up 120-114. 

A key sequence followed, with Nembhard missing a shot and Siakam deflecting the ball to Turner, who made one of two free-throws. Bridges then missed two consecutive attempts from deep, and Siakam converted two free throws to make the score 123-114. Bridges missed once again, and on an inbound play underneath the Pacer basket, Haliburton bounced a pinpoint offering to Obi Toppin at the top of the arc. Toppin, alone, drilled the triple. The Knicks called time, 45 seconds remaining and down 126-116. 

Over the final 45 seconds, Siakam hit a free-throw and Bennedict Mathurin hit three as the Pacers secured the nine-point victory. 

Siakam, in a best supporting actor role, scored 30 points with 5 rebounds on 11-of-21 shooting and 3-of-4 from downtown, and Nesmith put up 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting. Mathurin’s focused free-throws (10-of-11) contributed to his 5-for-8 shooting from the field for his 20 points in 12 minutes. Mathurin had not scored over 20 points since May 9 when the Pacers lost Game 3 of their Eastern Conference Semifinals series to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Mathurin’s 10 free-throw makes were a big part of the Pacers’ 27 makes on 32 attempts. 

The Pacers shot 51.1% for the game to the Knicks’ 46.3%, and made 13-of-32 triples while the Knicks made 12-of-28. Making 33 of their 39 free-throw attempts, the Knicks outrebounded the Pacers 44-33, but turned the ball over six more times, 17 to 11, in addition to getting beat in fast-break points. 

Brunson, with 31 points and 5 assists on 9-for-19 and 11-of-12 from the line, made two of his six 3-point attempts but was 11-for-12 from the line. Towns, with 24 points and 12 rebounds, shot an efficient 8-for-15 and made 7-of-9 free-throws, but played the last few minutes with an ailing knee after banging knees with Nesmith on a Nesmith drive to the basket. Bridges finished with 17 points on 6-for-15 shooting but his misses down the stretch were crucial.

The Pacers will look to close the series out on Thursday night back at Madison Square Garden in front of what is sure to be a raucous and loud home crowd. They will need to remain poised and calm, like their steady leader Haliburton seems to always be. The Knicks, meanwhile, must find the juice to sustain and keep up with the Pacers for a full 48 minutes. Historically, the Pacers are in a good position, as teams with 3-1 series leads have advanced 283 out of 296 times.