Game Rewind: Pacers 121, Knicks 130 (Game 2)

Wednesday, May 8 at 8:00 PM ET at Madison Square Garden

The New York Knicks have taken care of business at home to start the Eastern Conference Semifinals, and now it's the Indiana Pacers' turn to do the same.

In another down-to-the-wire contest, the New York Knicks (2-0) won 130-121 over Indiana at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. The series now shifts to Indianapolis, as the Pacers will host Games 3 and 4 on Friday and Sunday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Indiana led by 10 points at halftime before the Knicks outscored the Blue & Gold 36-18 in the third quarter to go up 99-91 heading into the final frame. In the fourth quarter, the Pacers’ bench closed the gap to a possession halfway through the period before the Knicks used a pair of small runs in the final minutes to keep the visitors at bay.

Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton scored a playoff career-high 34 points on 11-for-19 shooting (7-for-11 from 3-point range), Obi Toppin supplied 20 points off the bench, and T.J. McConnell recorded his first postseason double-double with 10 points and 12 assists for the Blue & Gold. Andrew Nembhard (15 points), Pascal Siakam (14) and rookie Ben Sheppard (11) also scored in double digits for the visitors.

Jalen Brunson led New York with 29 points, and Donte DiVincenzo and OG Anunoby each recorded 28 points for the Knicks. New York’s Josh Hart (19 points, 15 rebounds) and Isaiah Hartenstein (14 points, 12 rebounds) both had double-doubles.

Overall, the Pacers shot 51.6 percent from the floor, and the Knicks made 57 percent of their shots. The Knicks outrebounded the Pacers 44-34 and outscored Indiana 62-60 in the paint.

"We've got to be better in Game 3 and will be better in Game 3," Haliburton said. "They always say the series doesn't win until a road team wins. We're going back to Indy and obviously we love our chances there."

After tying at 36 at the end of the first quarter, the Pacers shot 68.2 percent in the second quarter to lead 73-63 at halftime.

Coming off a game where he had six points on six shots, Haliburton scored 22 points on 7-for-12 (5-for-8 from 3-point range) shooting in the first half alone. Anunoby had 22 points (8-for-15 shooting) at the break.

Following the tip, Haliburton immediately made his presence felt on the offensive end, scoring 13 points on 4-for-8 shooting in the first quarter. Anunoby led the Knicks with 12 points in the opening frame.

New York made 10 of 14 shots to start the game to build an 11-point lead, but Indiana answered with an 11-0 run to tie the game.

The teams kept it close in the opening minutes until a 9-0 New York scoring streak, where Anunoby recorded seven points, put the Knicks in front 19-10 with 5:49 left in the first quarter.

A Haliburton 3-pointer momentarily stopped the bleeding, but DiVincenzo and Brunson then drained back-to-back shots from deep to make it 24-13 and force a Blue & Gold timeout with 4:01 on the clock.

Out of the break, the Pacers went on an 11-0 spree in less than a minute after Toppin scored five points, Aaron Nesmith hit a 3-pointer, McConnell converted a layup, and Haliburton made a free throw to tie the game at 24 with 2:52 left in the first frame.

While the Pacers and Knicks essentially traded baskets for the rest of the first quarter, Toppin was fouled on a 3-point attempt with less than a second left and made all of his freebies to knot the game at 36-36.

Indiana’s bench came out on fire in the second quarter, going 5-for-7 from the field – with Toppin and Sheppard each hitting 3-pointers and Isaiah Jackson converting an and-one – to give the Pacers a 49-43 lead with eight minutes left in the first half.

Brunson left the game with a foot injury with 3:32 left in the first quarter and was not on the bench for the entire second quarter, but returned for the start of the second half.

The Knicks narrowed the score to two midway through the second period, but the Pacers answered with a 10-2 run.

Haliburton's fifth 3-pointer of the night, two buckets from Andrew Nembhard, and a layup by Myles Turner in the final 2:27 helped the Pacers go up by 10 at the break. 

In the second half, the Knicks outscored the Pacers 67-48 overall on 55.8 percent shooting. 

New York used a 20-4 run to go back in front early in the third quarter, and the Knicks outscored the Pacers 36-18 in the frame. The Knicks shot 66.7 percent from the field while holding Indiana to 33.3 percent in the third.

Out of halftime, the Knicks made eight of their first 10 shots, which translated to an 18-4 run – with DiVincenzo scoring 10 points during the twitch, to lead 84-79 with 6:41 left in the third quarter.

Anunoby left with an injury midway through the third quarter and didn’t return to the game. His status for Game 3 is unknown.

After a 6-0 Knicks run, Haliburton got a bucket to go, Sheppard drilled his third 3-pointer of the night, and Toppin converted an and-one before throwing down a putback dunk to narrow it to 94-91 with 1:28 on the clock.

In the final 66 seconds, Brunson hit a 3-pointer and got a finger layup to fall to put the Knicks ahead 99-91.

Indiana had chances but couldn’t get back in front in the final 12 minutes. 

McConnell scored six points in a 12-5 Pacers run to open the fourth quarter, cutting it to 105-103 with 7:27 left in the game.

The game then stayed within two points until a 7-2 run on a Hartenstein dunk, a DiVincenzo 3-pointer, and a Precious Achiuwa flush, put the Knicks up 117-110 with 3:38 on the clock.. 

Haliburton scored five more points, and Nesmith drilled a 3-pointer to make it 124-118, but Brunson hit a floater and free throws with 41 seconds left to make it 127-118 to seal it.

With 33.9 seconds left in the game, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle was ejected after receiving two technical fouls after confronting an official about an overturned double dribble call.

The Knicks finished 18-for-22 from the free throw line and the Pacers went 10-for-17.

Indiana’s bench outscored New York’s second unit 46-12 in the game.

Indiana’s 73 points in the first half were one point shy of tying the most points in a half for the Pacers in an NBA playoff game (2017).

Ben Sheppard’s 11 points on Wednesday are a personal best in a playoff game.

T.J. McConnell’s 12 assists are a personal best in the playoffs.

Jalen Brunson’s streak of 40-point games in the playoffs ended at four on Wednesday.

Both teams led by 12 points in the game.

The Pacers led the Knicks 21-18 in rebounding in the first half before New York won the boards 44-34.

"It was another case of fourth quarter loose balls and rebounds we were unable to secure. So we're going to have to do a lot better in Games 3 and 4. We're looking forward to getting back home. Give them a lot of credit, give their crowd a lot of credit. This crowd is among the very best atmospheres you will ever play on the road. We just have to do some things better and get home." -- Carlisle on the loss

"T.J. played a pretty good chunk of minutes. I considered (putting him back in), but our starters have earned the trust to finish games. Nembhard is probably our best on-ball defender, and we were flying around trapping, too. We kind of had the kitchen sink going at (Brunson) in the fourth and they still came up with loose balls, offensive rebounds, and made shots. Their execution has been very good in those situations. Everything is on the table going forward, it has to be at this point. We'll look closely at anything." -- Carlisle on the fourth quarter rotations and finish

"We've just got to figure out a way to get all of our guys playing at an equally high level. The starts of third quarters have been tough, so we've got to be better there. Tyrese is a great competitor, he responds to all kinds of challenges like this - time and time again the last two years. Proud of his response tonight, but again it's not just about one guy breaking out of a scoring thing. It's about all of us. Everyone is just going to have to do more moving forward." -- Carlisle on Haliburton's bounce back game

"I just shot more shots and took what the defense gave me." -- Haliburton on his 34 points

"We've just got to be better defensively, be better as a group of matching their intensity. Better in the second half. The third quarter got away from us and flipped the game, but we were right there in the fourth. Just didn't make enough plays down the stretch." -- Haliburton on the loss

"We just didn't play good enough. At the end of the day, it's 2-0 and we're going back to Indy, and I like us in any matchup." -- Haliburton on looking ahead

"We felt like we should've won this game, we felt like we should've won last game. But I feel like the way the playoffs work, obviously this is only my second series, once you start to say 'damn, we should've won that game' it's going to mess you up moving forward. Everything happened for a reason. I'm not really tripping." -- Haliburton on Games 1 and 2

"In that third quarter we just missed a few looks. I thought we played frantic. We just need to do a better job of not letting the rope slip when things are getting bad. We let that happen in the third quarter." -- Haliburton on the third quarter

"The glass. They were just rebounding every one of their misses. I felt like that was a big part of it. We just didn't rebound the way we needed to." -- Haliburton on the differences between the first and second half both games

"Honestly it's just the willpower. It seems like they just really wanted it more tonight with their energy. Their crowd got into it. We just have to kind of pick it up in the second half because we know that they come in waves." -- McConnell on losing first half leads both in Games 1 and 2

"We've got to be better. It's just that simple. They smashed us on the boards again tonight. They just brought more energy than we did, so we've got to fix that." -- McConnell on the loss

"He's a marquee player in this league, and playing him in Madison Square Garden, picking him up 94 feet, what greater challenge is there? Not just me, but for everyone. It's a collective effort, and we just have to keep trying to make things tough on him. ... We just have to continue to exert energy and get him to exert energy on both ends." -- McConnell on guarding Brunson

"He was aggressive. The best thing about Tyrese is that he is not going to force the issue and take bad shots. The guy gets 10+ assists in his sleep. Kind of the energy he had, he gets blitzed on every pick and roll. Him figuring out ways to kind of combat that and get to his spots and shoot the ball .... it was really good to see tonight." -- McConnell on Haliburton in Game 1 vs Game 2

"If we don't turn things up a bit, they can keep going. We've just got to be better as a collective energy-wise, protecting leads and especially rebounding. When you think you've got them boxed out, and they just keep going, and going, and going ... we just have to be better." -- McConnell on the Knicks being shorthanded

Tyrese Haliburton scored a playoff career-high 34 points on 11-for-19 shooting. His seven made 3-pointers tied the NBA franchise record for most threes in a game with Reggie Miller (twice), Chuck Person, Paul George, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Myles Turner. Haliburton's seven 3-pointers are also tied for the second-most ever by a visitor at MSG, one shy of Ray Allen’s eight made threes in 2011.

The Pacers will host the Knicks for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse at 7:00 PM on Friday, May 10. Find Tickets >>