NBA – Under pressure, the Knicks fight back and make history against the Pacers!

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NBA Karl-Anthony Towns
TNT (DR)

Par Joël Pütz | Journaliste sportif

Trailing 2-0 against the Pacers and still in a very difficult position during Game 3 last night, the Knicks nevertheless demonstrated impressive mental strength to prevail. In the process, they took the opportunity to make playoff history.

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We knew this series was going to be particularly intense. On one side, New York had just eliminated champion Boston in the second round of the playoffs, and on the other, Indiana had already taken care of Milwaukee and Cleveland since the start of the postseason. But Tyrese Haliburton and his teammates clearly started the conference finals better.

After two games, Rick Carlisle’s men already had as many wins, all the more impressive given that both were away wins. One of them came after a massive comeback at Madison Square Garden, proving the Pacers weren’t here to mess around. For the Knicks, however, Game 3 had to be won to avoid collapse.

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The 2024-25 Knicks, the new kings of giant comebacks

Under such conditions, it’s not uncommon for a franchise to eventually crack… but that would be misjudging Tom Thibodeau’s troops. Yet, Game 3 had gotten off to a poor start, with the Big Apple players trailing by 20 points in the second quarter. But the second half saw them overcome that deficit in spectacular fashion, ultimately winning 106-100.

As the cherry on top, NY used this performance to cement its name in the league’s history books. The 2024-25 Knicks are now legends:

@NBAHistory : Tonight marks New York’s THIRD 20-point comeback during this year’s playoffs… It’s the MOST in a single playoff run in the PxP era 🤯

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After having already achieved this twice against the Celtics (in consecutive games, no less), the Gotham franchise struck again and at the best of times. The main architect of this comeback was undoubtedly Karl-Anthony Towns, very discreet during the first three quarters but who completely caught fire during the last twelve minutes with 20 points and 8 rebounds at 3/4 from behind the arc:

Eastern Conference Indiana Pacers NBA New York Knicks Stats, records