Tyrese Haliburton’s stunning Game 4 performance torched the New York Knicks and moved Indiana Pacers to within a game of NBA Finals.
Tyrese Haliburton delivered a one-of-a-kind performance and it put the Indiana Pacers one victory away from reaching the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000.
Haliburton recorded 32 points, 15 assists and 12 rebounds without a turnover on Tuesday night to lead the Pacers to a 130-121 victory over the New York Knicks in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals in Indianapolis. He is the first player in NBA history to put up that stat line (30-15-10-0) in a postseason game.
In addition to notching his second career postseason triple-double, Haliburton made five 3-pointers and had four steals to help the Pacers take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Haliburton viewed the superlative effort as something he owed to his teammates after the Pacers’ Game 3 loss on Sunday.
“I was just trying to be aggressive, trying to respond,” Haliburton said. “I felt like I let the team down in Game 3, so it was important for me to just come out here and make plays. Guys put me in position to make plays and play my game. It was a big win for us.”
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There was no surprise which number Pacers coach Rick Carlisle liked most: The zero in the turnover column.
“He was really throwing the ball ahead tonight, which was really important to us,” Carlisle said. “To not have any turnovers in any of those types of situations is pretty remarkable. But this has become his thing. I know he takes great pride in it, and that’s a motivating factor.
“He happens to do some impressive statistical things, but he’s well aware that all of this far transcends statistics.”
The Pacers will try to wrap up the series on Thursday in New York.
Pascal Siakam scored 30 points, Bennedict Mathurin added 20 in 12-plus minutes off the bench and Aaron Nesmith contributed 16 points for fourth-seeded Indiana. It was Siakam’s second 30-point effort of the series.
Jalen Brunson scored 31 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 24 points and 12 rebounds, and OG Anunoby added 22 points for the third-seeded Knicks. Mikal Bridges scored 17 points and Josh Hart added 12 points and 11 rebounds for New York.
“We scored 120 points, but our defence wasn’t good enough,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Our rebounding was good enough. But our defence and our turnovers hurt us.”
Haliburton the difference-maker in Game 4
Thibodeau attributed Haliburton’s historic outing to his team’s breakdown.
“Haliburton’s a great player,” Thibodeau said. “You don’t guard great players in this league individually. It’s your entire team. And if one guy is not doing their job, everyone is going to look bad.”
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Towns injured his left knee for the second consecutive game and was hobbling at the finish. Thibodeau said Towns would be examined.
“I’m only thinking about the loss. I’m not thinking about that right now,” Towns said of the knee. “It’s disappointing when you don’t win. We didn’t do enough to get the job done.”
Meanwhile, Nesmith was declared good to go by Carlisle more than an hour before tip-off. The 25-year-old forward had sprained his right ankle midway through the third quarter of Game 3 on Sunday.
Myles Turner added 13 points before fouling out for Indiana, which shot 51.1 percent from the field and 13 of 32 (40.6 percent) from 3-point range. The Pacers again excelled in transition with a 22-9 edge in fastbreak points to increase their advantage to 65-23 in that category for the series.
The Knicks made 46.3 percent of their shots and were 12 of 28 (42.9 percent) from behind the arc. New York had a 44-33 rebounding edge.
The Pacers scored the first seven points of the second half to conclude a 13-0 burst and grab a 76-64 advantage.
The Knicks cut their deficit to 89-84 after two free throws by Brunson with 3:59 left in the third quarter. However, a 3-pointer by Haliburton made it 99-89 with 55.6 seconds left in the period and the Pacers took a 102-91 lead into the final stanza.
Siakam scored five straight points early in the quarter to give Indiana its largest lead at 111-96. But New York scored seven straight to move within 115-109 after a putback by Towns with 4:24 left.
Indiana maintained its pace and the lead was 126-116 after Obi Toppin drilled a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left.
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“We haven’t done anything yet,” said Siakam, who was a standout on the Toronto Raptors’ title-winning team in 2019. “Can’t get too happy with the highs, can’t get too low with the lows. That would be my speech all season.”
Haliburton was electric in the first half – with 20 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds – as the Pacers led 69-64 at the break. Indiana scored the final six points of the half. Brunson scored 16 for New York before the break.