Tyrese Haliburton scored 31 points and Aaron Nesmith added 30, helping the visiting Indiana Pacers rally for a 138-135 overtime victory over the New York Knicks on Wednesday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
The third-seeded Knicks squandered a 14-point lead in the final 2:39 of the fourth quarter due in large part to Nesmith’s sharp shooting.
Nesmith highlighted an 8-for-9 performance from 3-point range by making five treys during the final 3 1/2 minutes of regulation.
Haliburton appeared to win it following a friendly carom off the rim on an apparent 3-pointer at the buzzer, only for replays to show that his toe was on the line. That made it a 2-pointer and forced overtime.
When he thought the game was over, Haliburton made a choke sign in the direction of the Knicks’ bench.
Andrew Nembhard sank a 3-pointer and two layups in OT, the last lay-in giving Indiana a 136-135 lead with 26.7 seconds to play. An attempted pass to Brunson deflected off his fingers and out of bounds, and former Knick Obi Toppin’s dunk extended the advantage to three with 10.9 seconds left.
The Knicks’ Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns misfired on 3-point attempts in the final moments.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Friday night in New York.
Pascal Siakam scored 17 points, Nembhard finished with 15 and Myles Turner added 14 for the fourth-seeded Pacers. Haliburton handed out 11 assists.
Brunson scored 43 points and Towns added 35 to go along with 12 rebounds for the Knicks.
Towns sank 4 of 8 shots from 3-point range, a big improvement after he made just 3 of 19 attempts from beyond the arc in New York’s six-game series victory over the Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals.
Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby each scored 16 points in the loss.
Brunson committed his fifth foul with 10:05 remaining in the fourth quarter and retreated to the bench after T.J. McConnell made a free throw to pull Indiana within 94-92.
New York, however, went on a 14-0 run in Brunson’s absence, with Anunoby draining a 3-pointer and a short jumper to ignite the spurt. The Pacers did themselves no favors by fouling McBride and Towns on 3-point attempts, with the duo combining to make 5 of 6 free throws.
–Field Level Media
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