Knicks stay alive, throttle Pacers to force Game 6

NEW YORK -- Jalen Brunson scored 32 points, Karl-Anthony Towns added 24 points and 13 rebounds contempt a bruised near genu and the New York Knicks stayed live successful the Eastern Conference finals by beating the Indiana Pacers 111-94 connected Thursday nighttime successful Game 5.

The Knicks won connected their location level for the archetypal clip successful the bid and prevented the Pacers from earning the 2nd NBA Finals travel successful franchise history. Indiana volition effort again Saturday nighttime astatine home.

Knicks fans chanted "Knicks successful 7! Knicks successful 7!" successful the last minutes arsenic New York extended its archetypal travel to the league finals since 2000 and kept live hopes of becoming the 14th squad to flooded a 3-1 shortage to triumph a series. No squad has won a league finals bid aft dropping the archetypal 2 games astatine home.

Two nights aft giving up 43 points successful the archetypal quarter, the Knicks held the Pacers to conscionable 45 successful the archetypal fractional and constricted Tyrese Haliburton, who had 32 points, 15 assists and 12 rebounds Tuesday, to conscionable 8 points and six assists.

Brunson, outplayed by his constituent defender counterpart Tuesday, rebounded with his franchise-record 20th postseason crippled of 30 oregon much points with the Knicks.

Bennedict Mathurin scored 23 points disconnected the seat for the Pacers, who had won six consecutive roadworthy games. Indiana changeable conscionable 40.5% from the tract successful by acold its lowest-scoring crippled of the postseason.

Brunson scored 14 successful the archetypal 4th arsenic the Knicks held a 27-23 pb - giving up 20 less points than successful the archetypal 4th of Game 4, erstwhile they trailed 43-35.

Towns, who was questionable to play aft hurting his near genu successful a collision precocious successful Game 4, picked up the slack with 12 successful the second, erstwhile Brunson was scoreless.

Brunson came backmost with the Knicks' archetypal 8 of the 3rd 4th arsenic they opened a 20-point pb midway done the period. The Pacers chopped that successful fractional earlier New York regained power with a 12-0 burst, highlighted by Brunson's four-point play, to marque it 86-64.