Behind an explosive fourth quarter from Jalen Brunson, the New York Knicks rallied to take Game 1 from the Indiana Pacers. New York trailed by nine points early in the fourth, but Brunson saved his best for last.
The All-Star guard scored 21 of his 43 points over the final 12 minutes and scored nine-straight points for New York in the closing minutes to put the team in position to win. By topping the 40-point mark for the fourth game in a row, Brunson became the fourth player in NBA history to score 40+ points in four-straight playoff games — joining Michael Jordan, Jerry West and Bernard King.
“The little things can go a long way,” Brunson said. “So yeah, the 40 points are cool and all, but it’s the little things that help us win games like that. So I’m just happy to have the group of guys that I do.”
In addition to scoring 43, Brunson contributed six rebounds, and six assists and came up big on the defensive end in crunch time. Josh Hart had another excellent game — posting 24 points, 13 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals — as did Donte DiVincenzo.
Following a blown call — Indiana deflected and stole a ball but was wrongly called for kicking — that allowed New York to retain possession, DiVincenzo drilled a go-ahead three-pointer with 40 seconds remaining to give the Knicks a three-point advantage. Overall, DiVincenzo scored 25 points.
A quick basket by Indiana cut the lead to one, and the Pacers subsequently forced a turnover to get the ball back with less than 20 seconds remaining. However, Myles Turner was called for a questionable offensive foul while setting a screen and New York regained possession. Three free throws later, the Knicks had a four-point victory.
Game 2 is Wednesday night in New York.
