Haliburton has 32 points, 15
assists and 12 rebounds as Pacers beat Knicks 130-121 for a 3-1 lead
[May 28, 2025]
By MICHAEL MAROT
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Tyrese Haliburton finished with 32 points, 15
assists and 12 rebounds without a turnover in a historic postseason
performance to lead the Indiana Pacers past the New York Knicks
130-121 on Tuesday night for a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference
finals.
With his father, John, back in Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Haliburton
became the first player with such a stat line in the postseason
since turnovers were first tracked in 1977-78 and he carried the
Pacers within a victory of their second trip to the NBA Finals.
Nikola Jokic and Oscar Robertson are the only other players to post
30 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds in a playoff game.
Game 5 is Thursday in New York.
“I'll look at that later and reflect on that at a different time.
For me, it's just about winning,” Haliburton said. “ I wanted to
prove I could respond when my back is against the wall, my team's
back is against the wall. I feel like we responded the right way."
Pascal Siakam added 30 points while Haliburton had four steals in
his second career postseason triple-double. Obi Toppin's 3-pointer
with 46 seconds left sealed it.
Jalen Brunson scored 31 points. Karl-Anthony Towns had 24 points and
12 rebounds, and OG Anunoby finished with 22 points. But the Knicks
couldn't rally from another double-digit deficit.
It marked the first time in the series the home team won and leaves
the Knicks one loss away from getting eliminated for the second
straight year by Indiana.
“We've all got to be better. We've got to be better as a team,”
Towns said after shaking off a left leg injury with 2:11 to play to
finish the game. “It's unfortunate we couldn't find a way tonight
when we found a way in all the other series to do it.”
Nearly a dozen former Pacers players, including Jermaine O'Neal and
Lance Stephenson, joined Haliburton's father in the heavily
gold-clad crowd. So did WWE Hall of Famer Triple H, rappers Rob 49
and 50 Cent and singers John Mellencamp and Jelly Roll. Haliburton
also brought New York firefighter Hans Perez, a Pacers fan, to the
game and gave him a signed No. 0 jersey.
[to top of second column] |
New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) looks up from the floor after
his sixth foul during the second half of Game 4 of the Eastern
Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Indiana
Pacers in Indianapolis, Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael
Conroy)
John Haliburton had been forced to watch Indiana’s
previous eight postseason games from afar after he ran onto the
court and confronted Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo following his
son’s last-second shot to eliminate Milwaukee in the first round.
The Pacers allowed him to return for Game 4 and he sat in a suite.
Both teams were shooting at a clip of 70% long into the first
quarter as the Pacers raced to a 43-35 lead. Haliburton helped
Indiana close the half on a 6-0 run to make it 69-64 as he finished
the half just two rebounds short of his third career triple-double.
“He was our leader tonight and we had some difficult film stuff
yesterday, not fun,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “We allowed
things to go a different direction than they needed to go in Game 3
and tonight we were determined to turn it back in our direction.”
Did they ever.
Indiana opened the second half with an even more aggressive style
that spurred a 9-2 run and closed the quarter on a 9-4 spurt to
extend the margin to 102-91. Siakam scored the final five points of
a 9-3 run early in the fourth to give Indiana a 111-96 lead.
New York got as close as six three times in the closing minutes but
couldn't get any loser.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
