After losing the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals at home, the New York Knicks found themselves in a difficult position. The Indiana Pacers had captured all of the initial momentum. It would’ve been easy for the Knicks to falter in enemy territory. Instead, they battled behind an impressive performance from Karl-Anthony Towns and earned praise from Dwyane Wade.
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The most adversity the Knicks experienced this entire season was their 0-2 deficit to the Pacers. Wade knows better than most people about the difficulties of fighting back in a playoff series. After all, he played in 177 playoff games, which is the 20th most in NBA history.
New York didn’t start Game 3 desirably whatsoever. Indiana jumped out to an early 55-35 lead in the second quarter. But it isn’t about how well a team starts a game; it’s how they finish that’s important. The Knicks certainly outplayed the Pacers when it mattered most.
Indiana didn’t have an answer for New York in the fourth quarter. The Knicks outscored them 36-20 with Towns leading the way. He scored 20 of his 24 points in the final 12 minutes of action. Wade had demanded a different approach from Towns and the Knicks, and they delivered.
“I don’t care bout the X’s and O’s … I need to see your heart,” Wade said on the Time Out podcast. “People talk a lot of sh*t about KAT, but right now we’re watching his heart.”
Towns has tended to settle on offense, electing to take jump shots, while Brunson controls the flow of the game. Since the Knicks were without their star guard for most of the fourth quarter, KAT took it upon himself to lead New York. He attacked the basket, posted up and connected on deep three-pointers.
Towns showed exactly why the Knicks traded for him at the start of the 2024-25 season. Ironically, another key aspect to New York’s victory was its depth.
Brunson’s foul trouble forced head coach Tom Thibodeau to go deeper into his bench. Landry Shamet and Delon Wright played 11 and 13 minutes, respectively. The box score doesn’t put into perspective how great their impact on the game truly was, but Wade noticed the difference immediately.
“You’re watching guys who came off the bench that haven’t been playing and you just watch their heart,” Wade said. “That’s what I need to see from [the Knicks].”
The one thing New York can control is how much effort they put in Game 4. As long as they replicate that level of effort and passion, Wade believes they’ll be in a great position, win or lose.
Tonight’s game at 8 p.m. ET on TNT will determine whether the Knicks have enough in them to tie the series or the Pacers take a convincing 3-1 lead.
