Jalen Brunson, Knicks keep season alive with Game 5 win

Cancún can wait. 

The Knicks aren’t ready for the offseason just yet. 

They kept their slim NBA Finals hopes alive with their most complete performance of the Eastern Conference finals. 

Facing elimination for the first time this postseason, Tom Thibodeau’s team was sharp Thursday night.

It played with force and focus.

It defended well, limited the Pacers in transition and hammered them in the paint, sending this series back to Indiana for Game 6 on Saturday night with a thorough, wire-to-wire 111-94 victory at the Garden. 

Jalen Brunson owned the first and third quarters, Karl-Anthony Towns was dominant in the second and effective in the fourth, and everyone else did their part as the Knicks extended the series in emphatic fashion. 

“Knicks in seven!” chants began late in the fourth quarter, with the contest well in hand. Knicks fans can at least dream of a Game 7 back at MSG on Monday night. 

“It’s a testament to our team answering the call. I think tonight we did that,” Towns said. “But we are going to have to be even better next game if we want our season to continue.” 

This marked the first game of the series in which the Knicks were really able to slow the Pacers for an entire game.

On Tuesday, Tyrese Haliburton obliterated them and Indiana exploded for 130 points.

But two nights later, Haliburton was an afterthought, held without a field goal in the first half and limited to eight points, six assists and a minus-23 on the floor. 

“[Mikal Bridges] did a great job today trying to be physical, trying to be on his body and not give him anything easy,” Josh Hart said. “I think we didn’t have any plays where we had a miscommunication or left him open for three, which I feel like we did a couple times last game.” 

It was the Pacers’ lowest-scoring game of the postseason, and their worst output since Feb. 4.

Pascal Siakam, who has terrorized the Knicks throughout this series, managed just 15 points on 13 shots. It was 60-34 in points in the paint, in favor of the Knicks. 

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“They played harder than us,” Siakam said. “We played hard, they played harder.” 

Brunson took charge early and finished with an efficient 32 points on 12-of-18 shooting along with five assists. Towns added 24 points and 13 rebounds, and was a game-high plus-26.

Mitchell Robinson (six points, six rebounds, two blocks) responded from his admittedly off Game 4 to wreak havoc inside and Hart notched a double-double off the bench with 12 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. 

Brunson ensured a strong start by coming out firing. He hit six of his first seven shots and the Knicks led by 10 midway through the opening quarter. The margin was 11 at the half, the Pacers held to 37.5 percent shooting. 

“We have to try to replicate the first quarter next game,” Brunson said. 

The Knicks’ stifling defense continued into the third quarter, the period that doomed them in Game 4.

They scored 16 of the first 23 points of the quarter to build a 20-point cushion.

Brunson scored 10 of those points, and on consecutive possessions Robinson scored on a follow and blocked Haliburton on a drive. 

The Pacers responded by getting within 10 only for the Knicks to punch back immediately with a 10-0 burst of their own.

It was a 17-point lead after three quarters, and the Eastern Conference finals would soon be headed back to Indianapolis. 

“With this series, we haven’t been able to close out games the way we’ve wanted to, we haven’t been able to show how special we are,” Towns said. “We’ve had moments of brilliance, but we haven’t had games of brilliance. I think tonight was a good testament to when we’re locked in playing 48 minutes, we could show the world how special we really are.”