Knicks Brunson Plays With Foot Injury, Pacers’ Haliburton Reacts in Game 3.
Despite suffering from a sore right foot, New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson started Game 3 against the Indiana Pacers on Friday night.
The All-Star is averaging a league-high 35.6 points in the postseason, helping the Knicks take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Brunson was injured late in the first quarter Wednesday night, but he returned in the second half to help the Knicks recover for a 130-122 win.
Brunson is indispensable for the Knicks, who are extremely short-handed. He had 72 points and 12 assists in his first two games versus Indiana.
Pacers’ Resilience Prevails: Overcome Knicks’ durability in Game 3
New York had previously ruled out forward OG Anunoby due to a left hamstring injury, and it’s unknown whether he’ll be available for Sunday’s Game 4. He departed Wednesday’s game during the third quarter and did not return.
“OG did travel with us,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said, adding that Anunoby came along in part to continue receiving treatment. “If you get nicked up in the game, your rehab is basically your game, so you get treatment three times a day and just keep working at that.”
New York forwards Bojan Bogdanovic (left foot), Julius Randle (right shoulder), and center Mitchell Robinson (left ankle) are all out for the rest of the playoffs.
Haliburton Steps Up: Pacers Respond to Knicks’ Challenge in Game 3
Two-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton started Game 3 for the Pacers. He was categorized as questionable due to back spasms.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle had spoken pregame about how difficult it is to win games at this point in the season, praising the Knicks’ toughness and challenging his players to match it.
“They’re 48-minute games, and you can’t be up ten, four, or five at halftime and think you’ve accomplished anything in a series against those guys,” he explained.
“They have a strong will, and this will be a lengthy war. Each game, every possession is a monumental battle. “We need to fight better.”
The Pacers lead (by five) at halftime on Friday. They also blew that lead. But this time, they had the last word.
Haliburton Calls for Pacers to Match Knicks’ Energy”
“We talked about that all series,” Haliburton remarked. “How can we equal that energy? We will have to if we want to win. Honestly, we didn’t do that in the first two games. I believe we did in the first half of both games. In the second part of both games, we were outworked.”
Josh Hart played the entire 96 minutes in both games in New York and made key contributions down the stretch. On Friday, Nesmith followed Brunson about all night and still had the endurance to go to the rebound.
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Carlisle Proud of Pacers’ Resilience Against Knicks’ Pressure
And, while it sounded like Carlisle hoped he was coaching the opposing club before Game 3, he was eager to laud his own players after the victory.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” he remarked. “They’re up against a highly seasoned, tough-minded club that is extremely driven. They put us in a difficult position in the second half. I’m very happy of how our boys stuck in, continued fighting, stayed the course, and kept their emotions under control.”
If the Pacers can accomplish it again in Game 4 on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC), the series will be tied.
