INDIANAPOLIS — What if I told you in a must win Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals the New York Knicks would use a starting lineup they had not used all season?
Or a three-man lineup that had never played a minute together?
Or that they would rally to win a game with Jalen Brunson playing less than three minutes in the fourth quarter?
Well, they did.
Knicks 106, Pacers 100.
We have got ourselves a series.
The Knicks had no business winning this game. Seriously—none. Sure, Indiana gave New York some chances early. Brunson had 11 first quarter points. Mitchell Robinson, making his first start of the postseason, chipped in with six.
Still, Indiana led by four after one quarter. They were up 13 after two. Terry Crews, sitting courtside, was celebrating. Timothée Chalamet was sulking. A beer-soaked crowd fresh from the Indianapolis 500 was ready for the Pacers to take a commanding 3–0 series lead.
But they couldn’t. That 13-point lead was whittled to 10 after the third quarter. It was gone four minutes into the fourth. Karl-Anthony Towns had 20 in the final period. Josh Hart was a team-high plus-16. Brunson, who battled foul trouble all game, scored six. After watching Indiana mount an improbable rally in Game 1, the Knicks turned the tables, outscoring the Pacers 36–20 in the final quarter to pull out the win.
“I know you guys roll your eyes when I say no lead is safe,” said Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau. “But no lead is safe.”
Indeed. New York has pulled off some stunners this season. This, though, was different. Start with the rotation. Death and taxes are less predictable than a Tom Thibodeau lineup. No team used fewer starting groups this season than New York. It’s regular unit—Brunson, Towns, Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby—led the NBA in minutes. Ditto for the playoffs. Asking Thibs to change his rotation is like asking him to swap out a limb.
But he did. Robinson was in. Hart was out. Hart was fine with it. “I can’t sit here and preach about sacrifice and getting out of our own personal agendas and then a decision like that is made and then be mad at it and not want to sacrifice,” Hart said before the game. He even claimed to be part of the decision. It didn’t affect his minutes. Hart played 34—right around his postseason average—including all 12 in the fourth.
“To me when Mitch was coming off the bench, he's a starter coming off the bench,” said Thibodeau. “And Josh comes off the bench, he's a starter coming off the bench. Their minutes are going to be the same.”
Fine. But Delon Wright getting 13-ish minutes? Landry Shamet logging 11 and change? Wright’s playoff résumé to this point had been a handful of mop-up minutes in Game 3 of the Boston series. Shamet played sparingly in both earlier rounds, topping at 10 minutes in Game 1 against Detroit.
Yet there was Wright, checking in late in the first quarter. And Shamet, playing more than half of the second. Had Tyler Kolek checked in Thibodeau may have needed a wellness check. Before Sunday, the trio of Wright, Shamet and Hart had not played a minute together. They played nine in Game 3, posting a 127.8 offensive rating and a net rating of 21.9.
“The professionalism they have [to] do whatever it takes to win,” said Brunson. “We have a close-knit locker room and the way the guys prepared and were ready to go tonight and not being discouraged with our deficit and continue to fight back, it speaks volumes for what those guys did tonight.”
The Knicks bench—Deuce McBride had nine points—kept them in the game. And then Towns won it. Towns had a dreadful first half. Four points. Six rebounds. Two turnovers. He was 2-for-7 from the floor and 0-for-2 from three. On TNT, Shaquille O’Neal blasted Towns’s shot selection. Said the Diesel: “We’d be fighting in the locker room right now.”
There was no fighting in the Knicks locker room. No finger pointing, either. As bad as the first half was, New York felt lucky to be only down 13. The energy, Brunson said, was positive. “We [could] quickly start to just turn on each other,” said Brunson. “But we got together as a team and we made sure that everyone was encouraging each other and making sure [we knew] that it's not over.”
In the fourth, with Brunson on the bench, Towns took over. He went to the basket. He shot threes. He got to the free throw line. “A silent killer out there,” said Robinson. Myles Turner has had Towns’s number for most of this series. Down the stretch, Towns tore him up. It was a tie game when Brunson returned with 97 seconds to play. He immediately hit a floater to give the Knicks a lead they would not give back.
“I think this team has shown greatness all year,” Towns said. “The Detroit series. The Boston series. Tonight we got to show that never-say-quit attitude. It’s a testament to everyone in the locker room.”
New York salvaged its season on Sunday. Temporarily, at least. Now the pressure shifts to Indiana. After mounting several wild comebacks in these playoffs, the Pacers struggled to hold a lead. Tyrese Haliburton was 2-for-8 from three-point range. On many possessions—too many—he seemed satisfied to be a decoy. When he did get favorable matchups, he looked unwilling to attack.
“I think a lot of our offensive struggles in the second half were due to me,” said Haliburton. “So I got to be better there and I will be better in Game 4.”
Indiana was excited to play at home in Game 3. They may not like what they see in Game 4. Knicks fans travel. A 2–0 series hole may have dissuaded some from making the trip to Indiana. A chance to tie will have them packing the Delta shuttles, ready to feast at St. Elmo and invade Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Pacers still lead this series. They still have homecourt advantage, still have better depth, still are the odds-on favorite to win. But the Knicks reclaimed momentum in Game 3. They are coming back for more in Game 4. New York has life. The Eastern Conference finals have begun.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Knicks Embrace Change to Revive Chances in Eastern Conference Finals.
