INDIANAPOLIS — Two-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton blamed himself for the Indiana Pacers’ second-half collapse in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Coach Rick Carlisle figured Haliburton’s teammates played their part, too.
Less than 24 hours after blowing a 16-point lead in the final 20 minutes Sunday night and allowing the New York Knicks to cut their series deficit to 2-1, the Pacers went back to work Monday in search of solutions. Game 4 will be Tuesday night in Indianapolis.
“I felt like we got kind of stagnant on that end,” Haliburton said minutes after the 106-100 loss. “I thought we just didn’t do a good job of continuing to play fast. I felt like I did a poor job of keeping pace in the game, especially in the fourth quarter. I feel like I was walking the ball up every play, so I know it’s got to be a big area of improvement for me.”
Clearly, it wasn’t just Haliburton — or his teammates — struggling to seal a victory that would have put the Pacers within one win of reaching the franchise’s second NBA Finals.
An increasingly aggressive Karl-Anthony Towns scored 20 of his team’s 36 points in the fourth quarter and an increasingly shifty defence slowed down Indiana just enough to hold them to a playoff-low 42 points in the second half. Carlisle credited the Knicks’ defence for making the right adjustments.
And just like that, New York managed to avoid the dreaded 3-0 hole that no team has recovered from and climb back into the series, giving themselves a chance at evening the series Tuesday.
Strangely, the road team has won each of the first games and the Knicks have won six of seven on the road this postseason, their only loss coming at Boston as last year’s champions briefly delayed a second-round exit by winning Game 5.
“I think we have to continue to fly around (defensively),” Knicks All-Star guard Jalen Brunson said Monday. “Obviously, we don’t want to have breakdowns and when we do, we’ve got to continue to slide and help each other out, giving my team more opportunities to shoot the ball and score the ball instead of turning the ball over I think will be a big key for us.”
Coach Tom Thibodeau’s chess moves could be crucial, too. After benching Josh Hart in favour of starting Mitchell Robinson in Game 3, Hart and Towns played key roles in the fourth-quarter rally as Brunson was stuck in foul trouble.
But Towns and Hart appeared to suffer knee injuries Sunday. Thibodeau remains hopeful both will be available — and play well — Tuesday night.
“I don’t know if you’re aware but our medical team has been voted the best in the league,” Thibodeau said, drawing laughter. “They are tough-minded and I think at this time of year, the mental toughness is probably more important than the physical toughness and both of those guys are mentally tough.”
But the Pacers have been here before.
Just two weeks ago after winning the first two conference semifinal games at Cleveland, they lost to the desperate Cavaliers at home before Haliburton and the Pacers rebounded with a shooting clinic and beat Cleveland in Game 4 before closing out the series on the road.
The Knicks prevented Indiana from implementing its usually track-like tempo, outscoring the Pacers 22-8 in transition while limiting them to 5-for-25 shooting from 3-point range. The Pacers have their own injury concern with Aaron Nesmith, their top defender who has primarily been paired against Brunson, who sprained his right ankle Sunday.
“Aaron is sore as is to be expected,” Carlisle said Monday. “He will be likely a game-time decision, probably listed as questionable and we’ve got to play better.”
Nobody understands it better than Haliburton, who will have plenty of motivation Tuesday.
His father, John, will be watching from a Gainbridge Fieldhouse suite — the first game he has attended in person since being banned following his run onto the court after Indiana closed out the first-round series against Milwaukee. And, of course, he has something to prove again as the Pacers try to position themselves for a second straight series-clinching victory at Madison Square Garden.
“I didn’t do a good job getting downhill and making plays,” Haliburton said. “I’ve got to do a better job there. I think I’ve relied a lot down the stretch of games getting guys in the right positions and I feel like I didn’t do, personally, a great job with that. Execution down the stretch, we definitely can be better and that starts with me.”
