Tyrese Haliburton's Pacers Crush Knicks, Stun NBA Fans with G4 Blowout of Brunson, NY
Scott Polacek@@ScottPolacek
Featured Columnist IVMay 12, 2024
Talk about a statement performance.
The Indiana Pacers evened their second-round playoff series against the New York Knicks at two apiece with a commanding 121-89 victory in Sunday's Game 4 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The home team has won every game in this series thus far, and the Pacers left no doubt the pattern would continue.
Tyrese Haliburton did a little bit of everything with 20 points, six rebounds and five assists as one of six Pacers to score in double figures. Fellow guard T.J. McConnell notched a double-double of 15 points, 10 assists, four rebounds and two steals, while Myles Turner didn't miss a shot on his way to 13 points, five rebounds and three blocks.
Jalen Brunson had 18 points for the Knicks, but he was just 6-of-17 from the field as Indiana's defense made life difficult on him.
Social media had no shortage of reactions to the blowout:
Kevin Bowen @KBowen1070<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pacers?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Pacers</a> thoughts:<br><br>-Clinic. Surgical. Beat down. Damn impressive. <br><br>-Haliburton looking fully healthy (after Game 3) is equally as important<br><br>-Thibs has to think about resting his Big 3. Has to. <br><br>-Were the Knicks at Tin Roof last night?
Rob Perez @WorldWideWobDuring the two big Knicks losing streaks this regular season, opponents 3PT% went through the roof by nearly 5% vs. season average. It was not variance, it was the on-ball perimeter defense falling apart. Everyone was getting beat off-the-dribble, and they have to send help from…
It has seemed like the Knicks are barely hanging on at times in this series with OG Anunoby missing Game 3 and Sunday's contest with a hamstring injury, Brunson playing through a foot injury, and the trio of Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanović already out.
Indiana didn't exactly show any mercy.
It built a 23-point lead in the first quarter alone before taking a 28-point advantage into the halftime locker room. Haliburton and Turner each found their stroke from deep, while Pascal Siakam seemingly couldn't miss inside the arc.
The bench also deserved plenty of credit, as McConnell and Obi Toppin provided a spark and only extended the lead. McConnell in particular was bothering Brunson on the defensive side all while facilitating and attacking the lane when he had the ball in his hands.
The only question remaining in the second half was how many points the Pacers would win by in front of their raucous crowd.
All Indiana did was extend its lead to a stunning 38 points heading to the fourth. Neither team played its starters for the final 12 minutes, which was about the only silver lining for the Knicks. After all, head coach Tom Thibodeau doesn't use his bench much even when the team is healthier, so the starters at least got something of a rest.
It surely wasn't the rest they were looking for, but perhaps it will pay off when the series returns to New York for Tuesday's Game 5.