NEW YORK — In a despondent visiting locker room at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Josh Hart was searching. He’d just committed a handful of “just bad, stupid turnovers” that helped kickstart the Pacers’ potent transition attack, fueling Indiana’s offense in a 130-121 win in Game 4 of the 2025 Eastern Conference finals. After a near-flawless performance by Tyrese Haliburton gave the Pacers a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven set, pushing New York to the brink of elimination, Hart was asked what message his team could rally around as they exited Indianapolis.
“We’re going back home,” Hart said. “I’ve never known this team to quit. That’s not the character of the guys we have in the locker room. Obviously, our backs are against the wall, but we’re competitors, and we’re going to bring it until the series is over.”
It’s not over yet. The Knicks are still alive, thanks largely to its superstars — the celebrated but also, in this series, somewhat maligned duo of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns — showing up and showing out with the season on the line.
During his pregame media availability, Thibodeau said Towns would be a game-time decision with the left knee contusion he suffered late in New York’s Game 4 loss. Asked when he knew he’d be good to go, Towns said, “I looked at the game, and it said, ‘Game 5.’ Do or die. That was pretty much all I needed to see.”
Towns credited the Knicks’ medical staff with getting him prepared to be able to compete. “We put a lot of hours in, trying to get myself ready so I could have a chance,” he said. “God was good. I was able to go out there and play.”
Towns didn’t just play; he started, had a double-double by halftime, and finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds and 3 assists, his fourth 20-and-10 of the series and ninth of this first postseason as a Knick. “I thought he was very aggressive, and I think that’s super important,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said of Towns. “I think Jalen, as well.”
Ah, yes: Jalen, as well. Brunson made his first three shots in the first 89 seconds of Game 5, staking the Knicks to an early edge that they’d never relinquish. New York would push the advantage as high as 22 points in the third quarter before settling in for a 111-94 Game 5 win to cut their series deficit to 3-2, and giving the Pacers plenty to think about on the flight back to Indianapolis ahead of Game 6 on Saturday.
The Knicks’ superstar point guard came out hot and stayed that way, scoring 14 points and dishing a pair of assists in the first quarter, establishing from the jump that New York would be able to get to its game offensively and was not at all interested in embarking on an early summer vacation. “He was cooking, that’s what I saw — I saw him cooking,” Towns said. “When he’s playing like that and he’s hitting shots, obviously it energizes everyone.”
Two nights after Indiana’s All-NBA table-setter energized his team with his shot-making and ball movement, Brunson responded in kind, finishing with 32 points on 12-for-18 shooting to go with 5 rebounds and 5 assists in 34 minutes of work. It’s Brunson’s 22nd 30-point, five-assist game in the playoffs, tying Oscar Robertson for 15th all-time; he’s now averaging 33 points and 5.4 assists per game on 51/36/93 shooting splits in these conference finals, continuing to burnish his reputation as one of the game’s elite postseason offensive weapons.
“[Haliburton] played phenomenal in Game 4,” Brunson said. “I mean, our backs are against the wall. I wasn’t thinking, ‘I need to play better than him.’ I was just thinking, ‘I need to help my team win.’ And that’s my mindset every time I’m on the court — just help my team win.”
Brunson also carried that mindset over to the defensive end on Thursday, playing like a competitor eager to offer an emphatic response to multiple days of conversation about the success Indiana has had hunting him in this series. When the Pacers worked to put him in actions in Game 5, Brunson played with energy, physicality and tenacity.
Jalen Brunson set the tone early and never