NEW YORK – Jalen Brunson, returning from a right foot injury, scored 24 of his 29 points in the second half and the New York Knicks took a 2-0 lead with a 130-121 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night. Eastern Conference semifinals.
On the anniversary of Willis Reed's dramatic emergence from the locker room before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals to lead the Knicks to their first title, Brunson was absent, then came out to warm up at halftime and joined Madison.・It sent the Square Garden crowd into a frenzy. The Pacers jumped out to a double-digit lead for the entire second quarter.
Although he fell short of becoming the second player in NBA history to score 40 or more points in five consecutive playoff games, he gave the Knicks everything they needed to advance halfway to their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 2000. gave.
OG Anunoby added a playoff career-high 28 points for the injury-riddled Knicks, who left the game in the third quarter with a left hamstring injury but have already lost three key players to season-ending injuries.
But they got Brunson back and once again received a huge effort from his two Villanova teammates. For the second-seeded Knicks, Donte DiVincenzo had 28 points and Josh Hart had 19 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists.
The Pacers bounced back from a disappointing Game 1 in which Tyrese Haliburton had 34 points, nine assists, and six rebounds, but was ejected after receiving two technical fouls and finished the game without coach Rick Carlisle.
The series moves to Indiana on Friday for Game 3, followed by Game 4 on Sunday.
