New York Knicks look to extend lead, Indiana Pacers try to even score in Game 4

INDIANAPOLIS — After earning a key win, the Indiana Pacers return to the court Sunday for a pivotal Game 4 matchup against the bruised New York Knicks.

The Pacers accomplished one goal Friday night. The team fought its way back into the conference semifinals by avoiding the dreaded 3-0 deficits, beating the Knicks 111-106.

With the Knicks leading the series 2-1, now comes the harder part for the Pacers – getting even.

“We understood our backs were against the wall, we’re here at home,” All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton said after scoring a playoff career high 35 points in Friday’s 111-106 victory that got Indiana within 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. “Obviously they handled their business, winning both games at home and everybody knows what it looks like if you go down 3-0. So we had to come out and play desperate, play hard.”

The Pacers rallied from a nine-point deficit over the final 10 minutes and needed a 31-foot, shot-clock beating 3-pointer from Andrew Nembhard with 16 seconds to go and got a defensive stop and two late free throws to seal its fourth straight postseason home win.

The big question now: What’s next?

Indiana believes it can continue to benefit from the energy of a home crowd that has spurred it to a perfect home mark this postseason.

But the Knicks have more substantial concerns.

All-Star guard Jalen Brunson played through an injured right foot Friday and finished with 26 points, his lowest scoring total since Game 2 of New York’s six-game series win over Philadelphia in the first round. He’s still averaging a league-high 34.6 points in the postseason and did not appear on Saturday’s official injury report.

Forward OG Anunoby will miss his second straight game since leaving Game 2 early because of an injured left hamstring.

The Knicks already had ruled out three other key players with injuries – forwards Bojan Bogdanovic (left foot surgery) and Julius Randle (right shoulder surgery) and center Mitchell Robinson (left ankle).

And yet if a couple of calls – or Brunson’s off-balance 3-pointer with 13 seconds to go – went New York’s way, the Knicks could have spent Sunday trying to wrap up their first trip at the Eastern Conference finals since a 4-2 loss to the Pacers in 2000.

Instead, they’re trying to win the first road game by either team in this series.

“From my vantage point, I thought those calls could have gone our way. But I’m not going to comment until I look at the film,” New York coach Tom Thibodeau said Friday. “But you know, we’ve just got to find a way to win. That’s the bottom line.”