For a long while in Game Three of the National Basketball Association Eastern Conference Finals, the Knicks looked dead in the water. They were particularly mediocre in the middle quarters, enabling the Pacers to put up significant leads that they did well to narrow somewhat with modest runs at the end of both. Still, they suffered from alarming droughts that had conventional wisdom wondering whether their historic inability to claim victory in the home of the blue and gold would continue; in one telling four-minute-and-10-second stretch before halftime, they failed to buy a bucket and were thus compelled to see a seven-point deficit balloon to 20.
Considering how the Knicks were playing, skeptics could be forgiven for writing them off early and concluding that they would absorb a seventh straight road loss against the Pacers spanning three previous series and dating back to the turn of the millennium. As things turned out, however, they still had some fight left in them. With leading scorer Jalen Brunson in foul trouble, the onus was on much-maligned Karl-Anthony Towns to carry the load. And, lo and behold, did he — to the wonderment of fans and critics alike; he put up a whopping 20 markers in the payoff period, proving, if nothing else, that he had the cojones to parade his offensive repertoire under extreme pressure.
To argue that the Knicks dodged a bullet would be to understate the obvious. And they did so by veering from the familiar; among other things, famously stubborn head coach Tom Thibodeau changed the starting lineup and actually called nine players to action. The decreased reliance on a handful of heralds, no matter how good, was why they looked at least as fresh as the Pacers in the crunch. Heading into today’s set-to, the question is whether he will want to lean on recency bias or revert to his old self — especially in the face of the possibility of the best-of-seven affair being extended.
The adjustments continue for the protagonists in Game Four, and there is every reason to think the final score will again be as close as in the first three outings. Ironically, the Knicks have a better win-loss slate in front of a hostile crowd than at Madison Square Garden, an inexplicable development that nonetheless reflects the outstanding level of competition in the 2025 Playoffs. For the Pacers, the task is clear: win one at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse to get the opposition backpedaling. Else, there may yet be cause to believe the choke sign that All-NBA selection Tyrese Haliburton saw fit to brandish in the opener is more applicable to them.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
