Knicks drop Game 4 in Indy as Pacers take 3-1 lead

The Knicks are now staring down the edge. After a back-and-forth battle that never quite tipped in their favor, New York fell 130-121 to the Indiana Pacers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The loss puts the Knicks in a 3-1 hole as the series heads back to Madison Square Garden—along with serious concerns over the health of Karl-Anthony Towns, who suffered a knee injury in the closing minutes.

Towns had been heroic in Game 3, the motor behind the 20-point comeback. And he was strong again in this one, posting 24 points before going down with just under two minutes left.

He continued playing through the pain, clearly limping, but his status moving forward remains uncertain until further evaluation. With the Knicks already under pressure, the thought of losing Towns only tightens the screws.

Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 31 points, OG Anunoby added 22, and Towns’ 24 came with steady efficiency until the injury. But overall, New York just didn’t shoot it well enough to win. The team finished at 46.3% from the field—respectable on paper, but not good enough on a night when every Pacers punch landed. Brunson went 9-of-19, Anunoby 7-of-16, Mikal Bridges 6-of-16, and Landry Shamet just 1-of-4.

The Pacers were simply better—and sharper. Tyrese Haliburton was masterful with 32 points, 15 assists, and 12 rebounds in a triple-double performance that controlled the flow from start to finish. Pascal Siakam poured in 30, and Benedict Mathurin came off the bench firing with 20 points that gave Indiana a needed second-unit edge.

New York tried to make it interesting late. Down 113-99 with under eight minutes to go, they ripped off a 10-2 run to close the gap to 115-109 with 4:24 remaining.

But unlike Game 3, the Pacers didn’t blink. They held firm, executed late, and Obi Toppin—facing his former team—drilled the dagger from deep with 46 seconds left to put Indiana up by 10 and silence any remaining hope.

“We didn’t match their pace and their inspiration, too. We just didn’t match what they came to do tonight to start the game and in true fashion to our whole playoff run we put ourselves in a deficit, got ourselves out of the deficit and usually we feel good about us in a close game going into the fourth quarter and showing our resilience. But you get burned if you put yourself in that position too many times.”

– Karl-Anthony Towns

Now, it’s desperation time. Game 5 is set for Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks will need to summon everything they have—energy, toughness, and maybe some luck with Towns’ health—just to stay alive.

One more loss and the run ends. And after all the grit and drama this team has shown this postseason, that would be a brutal way to go out.