Knicks Fight Back: A Game of Missed Chances

The Indiana Pacers found themselves in a tough spot during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals. They were up by 18 points in the second quarter, and it seemed like they had the game in the bag. The Pacers had won the first two games of the series and were leading by as much as 20 points. Historically, a team that is down 3-0 in a playoff series has never come back to win. So, it looked like the Pacers were on their way to the NBA Finals. But things didn't go as planned. The Pacers let the New York Knicks back into the game. The Knicks won 106-100, cutting Indiana's series lead to 2-1. The Pacers scored only 42 points in the second half, which was their lowest scoring half of the season. They also had eight turnovers in the second half, which didn't help their cause. So, what went wrong for the Pacers? They had some issues with turnovers and questionable shots. They also didn't attack Jalen Brunson, the Knicks' second-team All-NBA guard, despite his foul trouble. Brunson didn't pick up his fifth foul until there was 7:03 left in the fourth quarter. He was able to play the last 1:37 of the game and made a floater in the lane to put New York up for good. The Pacers also had some injury issues. Aaron Nesmith, who had been one of their best offensive players in the series, went down with a sprained ankle midway through the third quarter. He returned to the game in the fourth quarter, but he didn't score or force the Knicks' hand defensively. The Pacers led by 16 points four minutes into the third quarter. But they let the Knicks hang around. It wasn't Brunson doing the bulk of the scoring for the Knicks; it was Mikal Bridges and Miles McBride. So, instead of New York being hopelessly behind after three quarters, they were only down by 10 points. That wasn't a prohibitive deficit, and Karl-Anthony Towns made sure of it with a special fourth quarter. The Pacers have some experience with this kind of situation. They won each of the first two games of their previous two series on the road and returned home with a chance to close out the series. But they got smacked around by both the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3. However, they were able to figure out what they did wrong and adjust quickly. They won Game 4 convincingly and closed out the series in five games. So, they have a chance to bounce back in Game 4. The Pacers need to do better in Game 4. They can't let a great offensive player like Towns believe he can still bring his team back. They need to close out the third quarter and start the fourth quarter strong. They also need to take better care of the ball and make better decisions on offense. If they don't, this could be a long series, and the Knicks will have home-court advantage.