New York Knicks pushed to brink of playoff elimination with heartbreaking loss to Indiana Pacers
The New York Knicks have been pushed to the brink of playoff elimination as a home team won for the first time in the Eastern Conference Finals with the Indiana Pacers’ 130-121 victory.
The Pacers held the lead from late in the second quarter on, with each New York attempt to regain the momentum necessary to tie the series headed back to Manhattan quelled.
Tyrese Haliburton was nearly unstoppable throughout the game for the Pacers, as he finished with 32 points, 15 assists, and 12 rebounds.
The Knicks now must win their next three games, including Game 5 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
New York had to battle through injuries and Josh Hart fouling out down the stretch as its final attempt at a comeback took place.
Both Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby went down momentarily with injuries and fought through pain until zeroes were on the clock.
The New York Knicks have been pushed to the brink of playoff elimination against the Pacers
Tyrese Haliburton was nearly unstoppable throughout the game for the surging Pacers
The Knicks have not won a home playoff game since eliminating the Boston Celtics earlier this month and will have to take down the Pacers twice in Manhattan over the coming days to keep their season alive.
The Pacers are now also one game away from making their first NBA Finals since 2000, and their second overall.
The Knicks have not made it to a finals series since 1999, with plenty of legends from those games inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Tuesday night.
Jalen Brunson could not take over the game late but did finish Game 4 with 31 points. Towns and Anunoby finished with 24 and 22 respectively.
For the Pacers, Pascal Siakam was dynamite again and brought Indiana to the doorstep of an Eastern Conference title with 30 points.
The Pacers had plenty of support from celebs inside the arena, headlined by Pat McAfee, who brought his boss with the WWE, Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque, to the rivalry showdown.
Triple H has connections with the Pacers after hosting Haliburton at previous WWE events and with the city of Indianapolis, pledging a future edition of WrestleMania, WWE’s biggest annual show, to Naptown.
Celebrity Knicks fans were also on hand for the critical game as Timothee Chalamet, Ben Stiller, and Spike Lee all made the trip from the Big Apple with their favorite team go down 3-1 in the series.
