NEW YORK – Tyrese Haliburton scored 31 points, posted 11 assists and made a game-tying step-back jumper to force overtime, and Aaron Nesmith scored 30 points with eight 3-pointers to key the Pacers’ 138-135 overtime victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Madison Square Garden.
Game 2 is Friday in New York (8 p.m. ET, TNT).
Andrew Nembhard scored seven overtime points and finished with 15. Pascal Siakam scored 17 points and center Myles Turner had 14. Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 43 points and Karl-Anthony Towns added 35.
Here are three observations:
Andrew Nembhard keys Pacers in overtime
Andrew Nembhard had just eight points on 3-of-6 shooting in regulation and he struggled with foul trouble, but as he tends to do, he stepped up in overtime and helped the Pacers win a game they trailed by 17 points in the fourth quarter.
The Knicks scored the first four points in overtime, but Nembhard hit a 3-pointer and then hit two more buckets, found Obi Toppin for a key dunk in the final minute and deflected the ball off Jalen Brunson with 20 seconds left. He scored seven of the Pacers’ 13 overtime points to make sure their wild comeback in the fourth quarter wasn’t in vain.
Aaron Nesmith 3s, Tyrese Haliburton step-back force OT
The Pacers seemed to be finished when they allowed the Knicks to go on a 14-0 run while Brunson was on the bench with five fouls early in the fourth quarter. They fell behind by as many as 17 points in the fourth, but just as all hope seemed lost, Nesmith went wild from beyond the 3-point arc and willed the Pacers back into it.
The Knicks were up 113-98 with 4:55 to go when Nesmith hit the first of six straight 3-pointers, somehow keeping the Pacers alive with a chance in the final seconds. They were down three with the ball with 13 seconds left when the Knicks’ OG Anunoby fouled Nesmith before he could get off a score-tying 3-pointer. Nesmith made both free throws. Anunoby was fouled on the ensuing possession but made just one of two. The Knicks stopped the Pacers’ initial advance but Haliburton hit a step-back jumper that got an incredible bounce and somehow went in. The Pacers initially thought they had won. However, it was ruled that Haliburton’s foot was on the 3-point line and the shot tied the score rather than winning the game at the buzzer, forcing overtime.
Pacers show no early rust
If there was any question that the eight days the Pacers had between games cost them any rhythm, they answered it in the first 5:30 of the first quarter. They made nine straight shots in that stretch to start the game and 11 of their first 12 field goals, taking a 27-20 lead with 4:45 to go in the first. They cooled some in the period but not much, finishing 14 of 19 from the floor, 3 of 7 from 3 and 3 of 4 at the line in the first period to post 34 points, 1.49 per possession.
The Pacers got no separation in the period as the Knicks scored 36 points, shooting 15 of 23 from the floor and 4 of 6 from 3, for 1.59 points per possession. But the two teams spent much of the rest of Game 1 going shot for shot and the Pacers established out of the gate that time off hadn’t been a problem. After having already won last year’s Second-round series here, they aren’t intimidated by Madison Square Garden.