NEW YORK – Jalen Brunson scored 43 points, becoming the fourth player in NBA history with 40 points in four straight postseason games, and the New York Knicks beat the Indiana Pacers 121-117 on Monday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference. Semi-finals.
Brunson had 21 points in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Knicks after they trailed by nine early in the period, and was joined by Hall of Famers Jerry West, who had six straight 40-point games in the postseason, and Michael Jordan and Bernard King (both with four points). ).
Donte DiVincenzo hit a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 39 seconds left and scored 25 for the Knicks, who opened the second round with the kind of close finish that their first-round win over Philadelphia was full of.
Josh Hart scored a playoff-high 24 points and added 13 rebounds and eight assists as the No. 2 seed Knicks advanced toward Game 2 on Wednesday.
Myles Turner scored 23 points for the sixth-seeded Pacers, who produced a strong performance off the bench and was in good shape to follow Milwaukee’s first-round elimination by jumping to the top spot against the Knicks.
But Brunson led New York towards another difficult end, after beating Philadelphia by one point during six games in the first round.
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