NEW YORK — Jalen Brunson returned from a proper foot damage to attain 24 of his 29 factors within the second half, main the New York Knicks to a 130-121 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night time for a 2-0 lead within the Japanese Convention semifinals.
On the anniversary of Willis Reed’s dramatic emergence from the locker room earlier than Sport 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals to steer the Knicks to their first title, Brunson despatched the Madison Sq. Backyard crowd right into a frenzy when he got here out to heat up at halftime after lacking the whole second quarter whereas the Pacers surged forward to a double-digit lead.
He fell wanting turning into the second participant in NBA historical past to attain 40 or extra factors in 5 straight playoff video games, however he gave the Knicks all the things they wanted to maneuver midway to their first Japanese Convention finals look since 2000.
OG Anunoby added a profession playoff-high 28 factors earlier than leaving with a left hamstring damage within the third quarter for the injury-riddled Knicks, who’ve already misplaced three key gamers to season-ending accidents.
However they bought Brunson again and once more obtained big efforts from his two Villanova teammates. Donte DiVincenzo scored 28 factors, and Josh Hart had 19 factors, 15 rebounds and seven assists for the No. 2-seeded Knicks.
Tyrese Haliburton rebounded from a poor Sport 1 with 34 factors, 9 assists and 6 rebounds for the Pacers, who completed the sport with out coach Rick Carlisle after he bought two technical fouls and was ejected.
The sequence strikes to Indiana for Sport 3 on Friday and Sport 4 on Sunday.