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Karl-Anthony Towns' fourth-quarter surge helps Knicks pull out massive 106-100 Game 3 win over Pacers

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The Knicks defeated the Indiana Pacers 106-100 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday night.

Here are some takeaways…

– Looking to shake things up with the starting five struggling, head coach Tom Thibodeau inserted Mitchell Robinson into the lineup in place of Josh Hart for the first time in the playoffs. The big man made a quick impact with three early boards and two buckets, and Hart was the first man off the bench, as expected.

The Knicks were also forced to reach even deeper into their rotation early, as Miles McBride came off the bench and picked up three quick fouls, so reserve guard Delon Wright saw his first non-garbage time minutes of the playoffs.

New York did hold Indiana to low shooting percentages all-around in the opening frame, but they struggled from the field as well and found themselves trailing by four after one — it was the first time they’ve lost the opening quarter this series.

– The Knicks then opened the second with a lineup that featured Wright running the point and Landry Shamet on the wing and the Pacers were able to take advantage of it — adding onto their lead behind some strong play by the pesky TJ McConnell.

Things went from bad to worse for New York over the closing few minutes of the half — both Jalen Brunson (four) and Towns (three) were forced to the bench as they fell into foul trouble and Indiana’s high-powered offense piled on down the stretch.

The lead stretched out to as much as 20, but a late 8-2 run helped get it back down to 13 at the break.

– With the rest of the Knicks’ offense struggling to get going, OG Anunoby was doing what he could to provide a spark coming out of the locker room, but the Pacers offense had an answer each time. They suffered a big blow a few minutes later, as Aaron Nesmith needed assistance off after suffering an ankle injury.

The lead was pushed back up to as many as 18 points but New York finally put together a run late. Seeing action for the first time since the first quarter, McBride scored seven straight points of his own to help get them back within single digits heading into the final frame.

– New York carried that momentum into the opening minutes of the fourth — they tightened things up defensively and Towns was finally able to get into a rhythm, putting together a string of big buckets to cut the lead all the way back down to three.

Moments later, the big man jammed down a monstrous slam on Andrew Nembhard and converted the free throw, giving the Knicks their first lead since the first quarter — they wouldn’t be able to get that over five points as the teams went back-and-forth trading buckets.

– As always, Brunson knocked down a late lay-in to give the Knicks a two-point advantage. Hart then came up with a massive rebound on the other end and knocked down a pair of big free throws, helping New York put away the massive Game 3 victory.

– Towns scored 20 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter and he reeled in a game-high 15 boards. Brunson had a relatively quiet night in the scoring department, finishing with just 23 points. Anunoby knocked down six of his nine shot attempts to finish with 16 of his own.

Game MVP: Karl-Anthony Towns

Towns stepped up and put together a huge fourth-quarter surge when the Knicks needed it the most.

Highlights

Whats next

The Knicks and Pacers face off in Game 4 of this series on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.

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