The New York Knicks came from behind and won Game 3 against the Indiana Pacers.
The New York Knicks showed an unprecedented midway spirit, completing an exciting comeback performance to beat the Indiana Pacers 106-100 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
On the brink of falling into a commendable 3-0 series deficit after disappointing a back-to-back loss at home, the Knicks wiped out Pacer’s 20-point lead and won the game.
Jalen Brunson finished with 23 points but was limited by foul trouble. It was Karl Anthony’s town powered New York with his epic offensive performance, scoring 20 of his 24 total points in the final quarter, and also seizing 14 rebounds.
It was the town that saved them, but it’s unfair not to acknowledge the other Knicks heroes in their resilient Game 3 victory.
When that was most important, Tom Thibodeau abandoned his infamous reputation for heavy on-court trust on the starter and desperately shuffled his deck, which was a huge success.
As Branson had to deal with foul trouble and a 6-18 shooting fight, the bench trio of Miles McBride, Deron Wright and Laundry Shett answered the call and recorded a significant amount of minutes.
McBride scored nine points, but the impact of Wright (2) and Shamet (3) extends beyond the stat sheet by going 2 and plus 12 respectively.
“High character people,” Thibodeau said, especially for Wright and Shemet veterans.
“Both people did a good job. We picked up Dellon late. Laundry is great all year round. He had unfortunate entries during training camp and preseason, but he played really well, he’s great for the team, he’s always ready. The same can be said about Dellon.
“When I say that, I mean they do the right thing every day. It comes a long way. It’s not just lip service, but I think it’s important because it’s actually working.”
With Mitchell Robinson on the way, Josh Hart came out of the bench under a bold lineup change for Game 3, Thibodeau.
“I mean, Siamese played a lot, Ron played great, Deuce, you have to give those guys credit,” Hart said after the game, finishing with eight points and 10 rebounds from the bench.
“They injected energy into the game, and it was huge. We keep relying on people like that. We have to stop fouling.
The Knicks are looking forward to another important step up when they try to level the series with two games, Game 4, which will be playing against Game 4 on May 27th.