Towns ignites wild fourth-quarter comeback as Knicks rally to take Game 3 in Indiana

At this point, it’s starting to feel like a script. For the third time this postseason, the Knicks clawed their way out of a 20-point hole, and this time it was Karl-Anthony Towns who lit the fire. With a jaw-dropping 20-point fourth quarter, Towns powered New York to a gutsy 106-100 win over the Indiana Pacers on their home floor, cutting the Eastern Conference Finals series deficit to 2-1.

It wasn’t always pretty—far from it. Towns had just 4 points in the first half and was saddled with foul trouble. Jalen Brunson wasn’t in a much better position, already sitting on four fouls at halftime. But when the moment demanded it, the Knicks’ stars showed up. And none more than Towns, who exploded in the fourth with a barrage of long threes, dunks, and free throws that left the Pacers stunned.

New York opened the final quarter on a 17-5 run, finally taking the lead for the first time since late in the first. Towns scored 15 of those 17 points and capped it with a dagger three from the top of the arc to put the Knicks up 94-90 with five minutes to go. He finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds, but it was the timing of it all—when everything was slipping—that made his performance unforgettable.

The final minute was about execution and composure. After the Pacers had tied it at 98, Brunson responded with a clutch floater to regain the lead. Then, with 59 seconds left, Josh Hart came flying in for a critical rebound off an Aaron Nesmith miss, helping secure the possession that ultimately led to the free throw finish. The Pacers had their chances—Myles Turner missed a potential game-winning three with 22 seconds left, and Siakam misfired on a look that would’ve cut it to one with 5.1 remaining. Instead, the Knicks iced it from the line.

“We talked about the biggest part of our comeback was, we could quickly start to point fingers or we could quickly start to turn on each other. But we got together as a team, we made sure that everyone was encouraging each other. Keep fighting, keep chipping away. We did that. Just proud of the way we responded. We needed it.”

– Jalen Brunson

But how exactly did the Pacers manage to build such a commanding lead in the first place? After a fairly balanced first quarter—where the Knicks actually held the edge until the final minute—Indiana started to flip the script early in the second.

With the Knicks trailing 35-42, a string of careless turnovers opened the floodgates. The Pacers capitalized in transition, turning defense into easy offense during a momentum-shifting 13-0 run. Fast break after fast break buried the Knicks in a blink.

New York eventually regrouped, with timely threes from OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges helping to stop the bleeding and trim the deficit to 58-45 by halftime. The Knicks refused to go quietly. Despite still trailing for the entire third quarter, they found a late spark and closed the period on a 9-2 run to cut it 80-70 heading into the fourth.

Brunson finished with 23 points in just 31 minutes on the court. Anunoby added 16 points and swatted 3 shots, while Bridges scored 15 and picked up a couple of timely steals. Hart, moved to the bench in a lineup shuffle by Tom Thibodeau, still played 34 minutes and contributed 8 points and 10 rebounds—classic Josh Hart stuff.

Thibodeau also turned to his bench more than usual, and it paid off. Mitchell Robinson got the start, and alongside solid minutes from Miles McBride, Landry Shamet, and Delon Wright, the Knicks’ bench outscored Indiana’s 15-4 in the second half. Nine of those came from McBride, who hit a key three and gave New York energy when it was needed most.

Indiana had its chances and moments. Tyrese Haliburton led the Pacers with 20 points, Turner added 19, and Siakam scored 17, but they couldn’t withstand New York’s fourth-quarter surge. Their early dominance—leading by as many as 20 in the second quarter after a 13-0 fast break-fueled run—fizzled when it mattered most.

The Knicks, who trailed 55-35 in the second and 80-70 heading into the fourth, now have life. And perhaps even momentum. Game 4 is set for Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m., and with the Knicks finally on the board in this series, this Eastern Conference Final just got a whole lot more interesting.