NBA: Pacers beat Knicks and are one step away from the conference title

The Indiana Pacers defeated the New York Knicks 130-121 on Tuesday in Indianapolis, taking a 3-1 lead in the Eastern finals and moving within one win of reaching the NBA Finals for the first time in 25 years.

Tyrese Haliburton stole the spotlight with a triple-double of 32 points, 12 rebounds and 15 assists. The 25-year-old recorded his second career triple-double in the NBA playoffs.

Perhaps most impressively, the shooting guard didn’t commit a single turnover in 38 minutes of play.

"I was just trying to be aggressive, trying to respond," Haliburton said. "It was important to come out here and just make plays. It's a big win for us."

"We've got to be ready. Just one more game, take what we can from this and be ready for game five."

The Pacers built a lead of up to 15 points, and the New York squad couldn’t replicate their Game 4 comeback, where they made up a 20-point deficit.

Cameroonian forward Pascal Siakam was Haliburton’s top contributor, adding 30 points and five rebounds.

He shot 52% from the field, hitting 11 of his 21 attempts—the kind of performance expected from the 2019 NBA champion with the Toronto Raptors.

"I always try to be aggressive," Siakam said in an interview with TNT Network. "I don't care if I score points or not but today the team needed that from me."

"I told them I'm here, where ever you need me, it's all about team for us. "

Knicks forced to win

The Knicks got off to a strong start offensively, putting up 35 points in the first quarter. However, their defense fell short, allowing the Pacers to score 43.

Turnovers proved to be a key factor in the game. Indiana committed just 11 compared to New York’s 17, leading to 22 fast-break points for the home team.

"We didn't start well but we battled," said head coach Tom Thibodeau. "We started slow in the third quarter and even though we fought our way back, we always found ourselves in a hole."

"We knew it would be a quick game, we hurt ourselves with turnovers, there's nothing left to do but correct and look forward to the next game," he added.

Dominican Karl-Anthony Towns had a double-double of 24 points and 12 rebounds.

In the final moments of the game, he raised concerns about his physical condition after taking a hard hit to his left knee, finishing the game visibly in discomfort.

Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 31 points and an impressive 92% free-throw accuracy, making 12 of 13 attempts during the game.

The series continues Thursday at Madison Square Garden in New York, where the Knicks must win to avoid elimination.

Winning any of the next three games will earn the Pacers their first Eastern Conference title since 2000 and secure their second trip to the NBA Finals.