NEW YORK — Jalen Brunson scored 43 points, becoming the fourth player in NBA history with four straight 40-point games in the playoffs, and the New York Knicks defeated the Indiana Pacers 121-117 on Monday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Brunson scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Knicks after they were behind by nine early in the period, and joined Hall of Famers Jerry West, who had six consecutive 40-point games in the playoffs, and Michael Jordan and Bernard King (both with four).
Donte DiVincenzo made the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 39 seconds left and scored 25 for the Knicks, who started the second round with a similar close ending to their first-round victory over Philadelphia.
“I just believe the way they work, they’ve put a lot into this season and they invest a lot into each and every day,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “So, when you make that commitment to each other, you’re not going to give in, you’re going to keep fighting. And that’s the great fight. We know we’re short-handed. So, that’s our way.”
Josh Hart achieved a career-high 24 points in the playoffs and added 13 rebounds and eight assists.
The No. 2-seeded Knicks will host Game 2 on Wednesday.
Myles Turner scored 23 points for the sixth-seeded Pacers, who got strong play from their bench and were in good shape to follow their first-round loss to Milwaukee by taking the lead against the Knicks.
But Brunson guided New York through another close finish, after it outscored Philadelphia by one point in total over six games in the first round.
Brunson thoroughly outplayed fellow All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, the NBA’s assists leader who finished with six points and eight assists after being listed as questionable with back spasms.
Pascal Siakam scored 19 for Indiana and T.J. McConnell added 18, leading a bench that finished with a significant 46-3 advantage over its New York counterparts.
The bench isn’t a big priority for the Knicks, who will rely on Brunson, Hart and DiVincenzo as far as they can.
Hart played the whole 48 minutes, DiVincenzo 44 and Brunson 43.
It was enough to get the Knicks the early lead, their first in a series later than the first round since the 2000 East semifinals against Miami.
They lost Eastern Conference finals to the Pacers that year as part of their fierce playoff rivalry that started in the 1990s. The teams met three straight times from 1993-95 and again from 1998-2000 — when Thibodeau and Indiana’s Rick Carlisle were assistants with their current teams.
The renewal is off to a pretty eye-pleasing start.
McConnell’s basket made it 94-85 with about 10 1/2 minutes remaining and indicated an early end to what was supposed to be a rest for Brunson. He came back to ignite an 8-0 run that brought the Knicks right back into it, and when Indiana went back ahead 109-104 with 4:27 to go, he scored seven points in a 9-0 burst that gave New York a 113-109 lead.
The Pacers went back ahead 115-113 before Brunson tied it and DiVincenzo hit from behind the arc for the lead, just as he did in a Game 2 rally to beat the 76ers.
Indiana’s reserve players, who are supposed to give the Pacers an advantage in the series, had a strong start in the second quarter. They scored 9 points in a row just before halftime, giving the Pacers a 55-46 lead. Isaiah Hartenstein made a long shot from beyond the halfway line at the buzzer, making it a six-point game at halftime.
The Knicks took a five-point lead with less than five minutes left in the third quarter. However, the Pacers once again got a big boost from their bench, with McConnell scoring three baskets and former Knicks forward Obi Toppin making two dunks, including one where he put the ball between his legs like in a slam dunk contest. Indiana led 87-82 going into the fourth quarter after Turner made a 3-pointer as time ran out.
Hartenstein and OG Anunoby both ended up with 13 points.
