NBA
New York Knicks look to go up 2-0 against the Indiana Pacers at The Garden
NEW YORK — The New York Knicks are hosting the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference second round with a 1-0 lead in the series.
The Knicks won the last meeting 121-117 on Monday led by 43 points from Jalen Brunson, while Myles Turner scored 23 points for the Pacers.
Brunson has scored 40 or more in four straight games, the first player to do that in the postseason since Jordan in the 1993 NBA Finals, and is just the fourth player ever to do that.
Yet he insists he never goes into a game thinking about how much he needs to score, even on a Knicks team missing points from injured fellow All-Star Julius Randle.
“I think, what can you do, how can we be aggressive, how can we attack and where can we get the best advantage for our team,” Brunson said Tuesday. “And it has nothing to do with me saying I need to hit this amount of points, I need to hit this amount of shots. It’s just, I’m reading how the game is being played and that’s just my mindset and that’s how it always has been.”
Tyrese Haliburton, the other All-Star point guard in the series, wasn’t great in Game 1. The NBA’s assists leader in the regular season, who has been bothered by back spasms, was limited to six points and eight assists for Indiana.
“We were playing ahead in Game 1 and feel like we should’ve won that game,” Haliburton said, “but at the end of the day it starts with me, and I’ll be better in Game 2.”
BOTTOM LINE:
The Knicks have gone 35-17 against Eastern Conference opponents. New York is 4-3 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.
The Pacers are 32-20 in Eastern Conference play. Indiana is 6-5 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.
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