Tyrese Haliburton had 32 points, 15 assists and 12 rebounds without a turnover in a sensational 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. (More Sports News)
With his father, John, back in Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Haliburton carried the Pacers to within a victory of their second trip to the NBA Finals. Game 5 is Thursday in New York.
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.
The Pacers have not lost consecutive games since March 10.
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.
Both teams were shooting at a clip of 70% long into the first quarter as the Pacers raced to a 43-35 lead. New York stormed back in the second quarter, reclaiming the lead three times, the last at 64-63.
But 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 a triple-double.
Indiana then 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 1110-96 lead.
New York got as close as six three times in the closing minutes, but Towns limped to the bench after hurting his left knee with 2:11 to play and finished the game.
