Tyrese Haliburton’s historic performance leads Indiana Pacers past New York Knicks to the brink of NBA Finals

CNN
 — 

The Indiana Pacers are now just one game away from the NBA Finals after an inspired Tyrese Haliburton led the team to a 130-121 win over the New York Knicks in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Haliburton was masterful: dictating play, relentlessly dishing out assists and making big shots when needed. The two-time All Star finished with 32 points, 12 rebounds, 15 assists, four steals and zero turnovers to lead the Pacers to a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

It is that final statistic, the zero turnovers, that is the most eye-catching, in particular for a player who shared and moved the ball like Haliburton did on Tuesday.

It is the first time in league playoff history that a player has registered at least 30 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds without a turnover.

“I didn’t know that. I feel like we’re making up stats at some points to make me look better,” Haliburton joked with reporters after the game.

“I was just trying to be aggressive,” he added. “Just trying to play my best. I felt like I let the team down in Game 3. I felt like I could have been so much better, so I felt like I responded the right way today.

“Just be aggressive, take what the defense gives me. I felt like I was a little jittery, playing too fast, so I was just trying to calm myself down. I was just trying to find guys and play the right way.

“Coach is always on me to rebound – everybody is on me to rebound – so I was just trying to step up there and be the best I could.”

Haliburton was aided by 30 points from Pascal Siakam and 20 points off the bench from Bennedict Mathurin.

Haliburton’s historic performance came with his dad back in attendance at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the first time since being accused of being “disrespectful” after a clash with Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo in the first round of the playoffs.

For the Knicks, Jalen Brunson had 31 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 24 and OG Anunoby had 22, but it was the team’s defense that let the team down.

“The first quarter was problematic,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “That set the tone for the game, giving up 34 points. We kept (digging ourselves) out of holes.

“We hurt ourselves with our (17) turnovers. We scored 120 points, that’s plenty of points, but our defense wasn’t good enough. The rebounding was good enough, but the defense and our turnovers probably hurt us.”

The pressure cranks up further for the Knicks now that the series returns to Madison Square Garden in New York.

It hasn’t been an entirely happy home for the Knicks this postseason, with the team going 3-5 – including 0-2 so far this series – across three rounds at the famous arena.

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