It started to look, for a stretch in the second quarter, like it was going to be a wrap for the New York Knicks.
Facing a 20-point deficit in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals Sunday, with the threat of a 0-3 series hole looming, the Knicks nonetheless rallied in the second half, limiting the Pacers to just 42 points after intermission. In New York’s 106-100 victory, Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns led all players with 24 points and 15 rebounds, though much of his production came in the final period.
And with the comeback, New York avoided a dubious scenario, as no team in NBA history has won a best-of-seven series after trailing 3-0.
Here are the winners and losers from Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks:
WINNERS
Thibs (finally) plays his bench
One of the most frequent criticisms of Tom Thibodeau as a coach is that he so rigidly sticks to his rotation, making the depth of his teams a relative concern. But, facing the prospect of an 0-3 series hole and the persistent speed and pace of Indiana, Thibodeau appeared to understand that he needed to tweak his lineup to incorporate a deeper rotation.
Landry Shamet and Delon Wright got their first meaningful minutes of the series and each responded. Backup point guard Miles McBride, who normally is in the rotation, bounced back after early foul trouble. The Knicks bench outscored Indiana’s by a margin of 15-4 in the second half.
“Foul trouble probably helped, but we were going to put them in the rotation just to get a different look,” Thibodeau said after the game.
Karl-Anthony Towns ignites in the fourth
Playing all but 36 seconds in the fourth, Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns popped off, sparking New York’s comeback win. He shot 6-of-9 in the period, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, grabbed eight rebounds and scored 20 of his 24 points, aggressively seeking his shot and not settling for jumpers. It was quite the reversal, after Towns got into early foul trouble and appeared to be frustrated, missing layups at the rim. Thibodeau had benched him the final quarter of Game 2, and KAT responded.
The Knicks take advantage of the freebies
New York shot 27-of-30 (90%) from the line Sunday night, including a 15-of-16 (93.8%) showing in the fourth quarter.
The Pacers turn defense into offense (at least in the first three quarters)
Indiana outscored New York in points off turnovers, 22-8. The only issue: the Pacers failed to force the Knicks into turnovers in the fourth quarter, when New York committed only two.
Josh Hart gets some redemption
Thibodeau, again seeking to get different looks, started Mitchell Robinson ahead of forward Josh Hart, who had struggled to make an impact in the first two games of the series. Hart played the entire fourth, had a team-high +16 in the period and made winning plays time and time again, particularly on the glass; Hart collected five rebounds in the fourth, two of which were offensive, and made all four free throw attempts he took.
LOSERS
Indiana loses its identity in the second half
Yes, the Knicks ramped up their defensive intensity and pressure in the second half, but the Pacers played far too complacently after intermission, failing to respond to New York’s energy. Worse for Indiana, it completely abandoned its offensive identity of pushing the tempo and sprinting out in transition.
A lot of it was defense, with the Pacers failing to generate turnovers in the second half that often spark transition baskets. The Pacers scored 16 fastbreak points in this game; 14 of those came in the first half. It’s no surprise, then, that the Pacers, after scoring 58 points in the first half, scored just 42 in the second.
Pacers role players disappear in letdown
Indiana needed much more from Aaron Nesmith and Andrew Nembhard, who combined to score 17 points on 4-of-17 shooting (23.5%). In particular, both players — though Nesmith had a reduced role with an ankle sprain suffered in the third quarter — struggled to contribute in the second half, scoring just four points on 1-of-8 shooting (12.5%) after intermission.
Benedict Mathurin, meanwhile, continues to be a liability in his minutes, which have been drastically reduced. In just 8:26 on the floor, Mathurin went 0-for-1 and scored just two points.
Pacers closing out quarters
New York won this game, in large part, because of the way it closed out quarters. Indiana allowed the Knicks to end the second on a 10-3 run, the third on a 7-2 run and the fourth on an 8-2 run.
That means the Pacers let the Knicks outscore them by a margin of 25-7 in the ends of the second, third and fourth quarters, combined. In a six-point loss, that — easily — was the difference.