Knicks, Pacers book second round clash
LOS ANGELES: Jalen Brunson scored 41 points and the New York Knicks held on for a 118-115 victory over Philadelphia on Thursday (Friday in Manila), clinching a 4-2 series win to book an NBA playoffs second round clash with the Indiana Pacers.
The Pacers powered into the Eastern Conference semifinals with a convincing 120-98 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks that sealed their 4-2 series win earlier.
It came down to the wire in Philadelphia, where Knicks forward Josh Hart, fed by Brunson, drilled a three-pointer to put New York up 114-111 with 25.6 seconds remaining.
Sixers star Joel Embiid cut the deficit to one with a driving layup with 20.8 seconds left but then fouled out and the Knicks polished it off with free throws from Donte DiVincenzo and Brunson.
Knicks, Pacers book second round clash
“We knew that it wasn’t going to be easy, even with the lead we had,” Brunson told broadcaster TNT after the Knicks — who were unable to close out the series at home in Game 5 — saw the 76ers erase an early 22-point deficit to lead by three at halftime.
“We knew that they were going to keep fighting. Every game has been like this. So it doesn’t matter really how you start, it just matters how you finish.”
Brunson added 12 assists, DiVincenzo scored 23 points with two steals and three blocked shots, OG Anunoby contributed 19 points and Hart had 16 with 14 rebounds for New York.
Embiid, last season’s Most Valuable Player whose campaign was disrupted by knee surgery in February, scored 39 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
Buddy Hield added 20 points but Tyrese Maxey, who scored 46 in Tuesday’s series-extending victory, was held to 17.
The Knicks, through to the second round for the second straight season, will host the Pacers in game one of their series on Monday.
Unable to close out the depleted Bucks on Tuesday, the Pacers got their uptempo offense flowing again, relentlessly pulling away after trailing by seven in the opening minutes in Indianapolis.
All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton delivered a double-double of 17 points and 10 assists, but it was reserve guard Obi Toppin leading the Pacers scoring with a career playoff high 21 points.
Pacers perseverance
T.J. McConnell added 20 points off the bench along with nine assists and four steals as the Pacers reserves contributed a whopping 50 points.
“I’m so proud of the perseverance,” Haliburton said of Toppin and McConnell. “Obviously neither of them had a really good game last game — none of us did. We just responded the right way.”
Indiana led by 12 at halftime, and after the Bucks cut the deficit to seven on a Brook Lopez layup with 1:05 left in the third the Pacers authored an 11-0 scoring run and romped away in the final period.
Eight-time All-Star Damian Lillard returned from a two-game injury absence and led the Bucks with 28 points.
Lopez and Bobby Portis scored 20 points apiece, but with two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo still sidelined by the calf injury suffered late in the regular season the Bucks couldn’t find an answer.
The Bucks, who won the title in 2021, lost in the first round for the second straight season after falling to Miami last year.
The Pacers hadn’t won a playoff series since 2014, when they reached the Eastern Conference finals.