Jalen Brunson Leads Knicks to 121-117 Game One Victory Over Pacers

1. First Quarter

It’s no secret how outstanding Jalen Brunson has been for the New York Knicks in the last three games. Indiana would fall victim to the former Villanova Wildcat to start the game. New York jumped ahead 4-0 after baskets from Brunson and Isaiah Hartenstein. Indiana responded with an 8-0 run featuring threes from Tyrese Haliburton and Andrew Nembhard after an Aaron Nesmith layup. New York then went on an 8-0 run to take a 12-8 lead with 7:33 left in the quarter. The most the Knicks would lead by in the first quarter was eight points after a free throw from Precious Achiuwa. Indiana received late baskets from Ben Sheppard, Isaiah Jackson, and T.J. McConnell to trail 27-24 after twelve minutes. Brunson led all scorers with 10 points followed by 9 points from Josh Hart. Indiana’s leading scorer was McConnell with 6 points. Indiana shot 4/10 from behind the three-point line and 5/14 inside of it.

2. Second Quarter

It didn’t take long for the Pacers to take the lead back in the second quarter. Sheppard started the quarter with another three and then Jackson put the Pacers ahead 29-27 with a layup. Indiana opened the second half with a 9-2 burst to take a 33-29 lead with 8:34 left in the half. New York would trim it down to one with an OG Anunoby three on the following possession, but Indiana scored four straight points to go up five. New York and Indiana would tie twice in the second quarter in the final three minutes, but New York never took the lead.  With 2:06 left in the half, Brunson converted a midrange jumper to tie it at 46. The Pacers then scored nine straight points on baskets from McConnell, Pascal Siakam, and Sheppard. New York closed the half with Hartenstein making a halfcourt shot as time expired to cut Indiana’s lead to 55-49 at intermission. Myles Turner led Indiana in scoring in the quarter with eight points. Brunson led all scorers with 18 points at halftime followed by Hart with 11 points. Indiana’s leading scorer was McConnell with 10 points.

3. Third Quarter

It was only a matter of time before the Knicks made a run with their style of play. Indiana was able to manage its lead for nearly the first four minutes of the second half. New York eventually tied it at 62 following a Donte DiVencenzo dunk after Turner missed a dunk. The two teams would tie three times in total in the third quarter before DiVincenzo gave the Knicks the lead back with 5:52 left in the third quarter. The Knicks went from down 66-64 to leading 73-68 in less than two minutes. Indiana responded with a 10-0 run sparked by a Nembhard field goal. Toppin, McConnell, and Turner joined Nembhard as the players to score during the run. The former Knick, Obi Toppin, put Indiana ahead 84-77 with a dunk with 43 seconds left in the quarter. Turner concluded the quarter with a deep three from the hashmark as time expired to swing the momentum in Indiana’s favor. After thirty-six minutes, Indiana led 87-82. DiVencenzo got hot in the third with 15 points followed by 13 points from Turner. Brunson and Turner each had 22 points after three quarters. Indiana was outrebounded in the third quarter 11-3.

4. Fourth Quarter

In the first and third quarters, the two teams would exchange runs. It was very similar to a heavyweight boxing match featuring two boxers exchanging blows. Indiana landed a punch on New York to start the final quarter to take a game high 94-85 lead after a McConnell layup. The Knicks called a timeout and followed it up with an 8-0 run to make it a one-point game with 8:56 left. Indiana was able to hold onto the lead and extended it back to five points on four different occasions. Indiana’s last five point lead came with 4:27 left when it was 109-104 after Nesmith free throws. New York then went on a 9-0 run with Brunson scoring seven and Anunoby scoring the other two. Nesmith made two more free throws followed by a Turner steal and Siakam layup to tie the game at 113 with 2:10 left in the game. The two teams remained tied with 1:14 left in the game at 115. Nesmith missed a three and then was called for a kicked ball that wasn’t a kicked ball. DiVencenzo then made a three to put New York ahead with 40 seconds left. Siakam scored a layup and then Indiana was able to force a turnover because Brunson attempted throwing the ball off Haliburton, but it came back and hit himself as he stood out of bounds. Indiana inbounded the ball and then Turner was called for a controversial moving screen with 12.7 seconds left. Nembhard got whistled for an away from play foul and then had to foul Brunson on the inbound. He made all three free throws, resulting in a 121-117 Knicks win.

5. Top Performers

Jalen Brunson (43p, 6r, 6a, 14-14 FT’s), Donte DiVencenzo (25p, 5 threes), Josh Hart (24p, 13r, 8a, 48 minutes), OG Anunoby (13p, 9r, 4a, 2s, 3 threes), and Isaiah Hartenstein (13p, 6r, 4a). For Indiana, Myles Turner (23p), Pascal Siakam (19p, 6r, 5a), T.J. McConnell (18p, 3a, 3s), Obi Toppin (12p, 6r, 3a), Aaron Nesmith (12p, 6r, 3a), Andrew Nembhard (11p, 4a), and Tyrese Haliburton (6p, 8a, 4s, 2r). For tonight’s full box score, click here.

6. Notes

• Indiana Pacers have now lost game one NINE times since 2011 and have come back to win FOUR series
  • Indiana has never won a series after falling behind 2-0
• Jalen Brunson has now scored 40+ points in four straight games
  • Joins Jerry West, Michael Jordan, Bernard King as the only players to do that
• Jalen Brunson is averaging 42 points per game in his last 5 playoff games
  • Averages 23 per game in his first two games
• Jalen Brunson has now taken 10+ free throw attempts in four playoff games
  • Has now happened 10 times since April 1st (15 games)
    • Only had 10 games with 10+ free throw attempts prior to April 1st (69 games)
• Tyrese Haliburton’s 6 field goal attempts are the fewest attempts in a game as a Pacer when playing 30+ minutes
  • 3 shots the final 40:04
    • 2 shots in the second quarter
    • 1 shot in the third quarter
    • 0 shots in the fourth quarter
    • Played 26:57 during that stretch
• Myles Turner’s 2 rebounds tie a season low for the third time
  • 2nd time this season that’s happened when playing 30+ minutes
• Indiana was outrebounded 19-8 in the second half
  • Aaron Nesmith had 5 of the 8 rebounds (Turner 1, Toppin 1, McConnell 1)
• Isaiah Hartenstein’s three-pointer to end the first half was only his second three on the season
• Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVencenzo combined for 92 of New Tork’s 121
• Josh Hart played all 48+ minutes for the 4th time on the season (three times in postseason)
  • Including playing 53 minutes in the OT loss to Philadelphia in game 5
• Josh Hart scored 20+ points for the fourth time this postseason (matches his regular season total)
• Josh Hart recorded his 5th double-double of the playoffs
• Donte DiVencenzo recorded 20+ points for the second consecutive game

7. Next Up

After one day off the watch the film, the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks will face off on Wednesday at 8pm for game two of the series. Pat Boylan will get things started at 7:30pm with the Kroger Pregame Show. Mark Boyle and Eddie Gill will have the play-by-play starting at 8pm on 93.5/107.5 The fan. The series schedule:

• Game 1 – Monday, May 6th, 2024, at Madison Square Garden – NYK 121 – 117
• Game 2 – Wednesday, May 8th, 2024, at Madison Square Garden – 8pm (TNT)
• Game 3 – Friday, May 10th, 2024, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse – 7pm (ESPN)
• Game 4 – Sunday, May 12th, 2024, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse – 3:30pm (ABC)
• Game 5 (if necessary), Tuesday, May 14th, 2024, at Madison Square Garden – TBD (TNT)
• Game 6 (if necessary), Thursday, May 16th, 2024, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse – TBD (ESPN)
• Game 7 (if necessary), Saturday, May 18, 2024, at Madison Square Garden – TBD