Defiant Knicks keep season alive with Game 5 win over Pacers in East finals

Brunson scores 32 as Knicks stay alive with Game 5 win

STAYING ALIVE: Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks drives against Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers during Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Madison Square Garden. Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

The Madison Square Garden crowd had waited all week for a spark. On Thursday night, they got a firestorm. With their season dangling by a thread, the New York Knicks delivered a wire-to-wire 111–94 beatdown of the Indiana Pacers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals, keeping their playoff hopes alive and forcing a Game 6 in Indianapolis on Saturday.

Jalen Brunson scored 32 points and Karl-Anthony Towns added 24 points and 13 rebounds – despite a bruised left knee that had left his status uncertain until shortly before tipoff – as the Knicks trimmed the Pacers’ lead to 3–2 in the best-of-seven-games series and gave their home fans something to believe in.