By Fred Katz, Eric Nehm, Tony Jones and Jon Krawczynski
The energy at Madison Square Garden was palpable New York Knicks the fans started a “Knicks in six!” chant during the final minutes of Game 5. The Knicks ended up getting a 121-91 victory against the Indiana Pacers to take a 3-2 series lead.
Jalen Brunson continued his year-long dominance, finishing with a game-high 44 points, seven assists and four rebounds on 18-of-35 shooting. It was Brunson’s fifth 40-point performance this postseason.
New York is just one win away from the Eastern Conference finals.
Somewhere else, Nikola Jokic host a masterclass in the Denver Nuggets 112-97 victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Ball Arena, doing what he wants with Rudy Gobert and finishing with 40 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds along the way. THE Nuggets lead 3-2 and the Timber wolves are in danger of losing four games in a row against the defending champions.
Denver held Anthony Edwards just 18 points and nine assists on 5-of-15 shooting. The Timberwolves’ budding superstar will need to piece together one of his best playoff games to keep his team’s hopes alive in the Western Conference finals on Thursday.
Knicks 121, Pacers 91
Series: New York leads 3-2
Game 6: Friday in Indiana
Brunson slices Pacers defenders
For all the talk about excessive energy, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau has his players running around for too many minutes and New York’s Game 4 no-showThere was one main problem plaguing this team: Brunson didn’t look like himself.
Brunson was unable to create space against Aaron Nesmith in Games 3 or 4 in Indiana, and a lot of the credit goes to the Pacers wing for that. But Brunson, nursing a foot injury he suffered early in this series, wasn’t himself either.
Brunson can generate separation against anyone. He did it during the regular season against perimeter stalwarts like Herb Jones and Jrue Vacations. He should have been able to do it against the Pacers. But he could not. And the Knicks, in turn, didn’t look the same either.
The most important aspect of Game 5 has always been Brunson’s health. If he could move, if he could open himself up to those crafty looks he loves so much, then the Knicks had a chance — if not better than that.
That is why. Brunson carved up the Pacers on Tuesday, hitting the spots he wanted.
Especially with all the injuries to key players, the Knicks are doing like Brunson.
And when he’s healthy, he tends to do pretty well, as he showed again Tuesday night. — Fred Katz, Knicks writer
GO FURTHER
Knicks return to form in Game 5 win over Pacers
Pacers collapse after handling early offense
After a blowout win in Game 4, the Pacers knew they were going to get the best of the Knicks, but that didn’t matter on Tuesday. They handled New York’s onslaught early and took a seven-point lead five minutes into Game 5, but then slowly fell apart to end the first quarter.
Rick Carlisle kept calling for stops, but nothing seemed to calm his team down as they continued to commit turnovers and give up offensive rebounds. With 2:11 left in the first half, Indiana trailed by 18 points and Carlisle had already taken five of its seven timeouts.
By the end of the first half, Brunson had scored 28 of his 44 points, the Knicks had grabbed 12 offensive rebounds, the Pacers had committed nine turnovers and New York had made 15 more shots than Indiana. The Pacers were fortunate to only trail by 15 at halftime.
Myles Turner made three 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the third quarter to bring Indiana within seven, but a scoreless drought of more than six minutes shortly afterward eliminated any hope the Pacers might have had of stealing the fifth game.
Now they return to Indianapolis with their season on the line Friday. — Eric Nehm, senior NBA writer
(Photo: Matthieu Stockman / Getty Images)
Nuggets 112, Timberwolves 97
Series: Denver leads 3-2
Game 6: Thursday in Minnesota
The Nuggets may have solved Minnesota
The sixth game of this series will take place Thursday evening, in the friendly confines of the Timberwolves’ Target Center. But it really feels like this series is over, with the Nuggets irreversibly blocking the Timberwolves.
On paper, this series is still close, with Denver taking a 3-2 lead, but the Nuggets have won three in a row. Two of them were in Minneapolis. The third was a 112-97 victory Tuesday night in a game Denver dominated in the second half.
The Nuggets apparently understand Edwards. And Jokić plays with Gobert in biblical fashion.
It would take the strongest team in the world mentally to reverse what’s happening in this series, and the Wolves don’t look like that team. The path to next week’s conference finals has never looked easier for Denver. The Nuggets have played three straight games of nearly flawless basketball.
Jokić gradually became more dominant and he capped it off Tuesday night with a 40-point performance for the ages.
If nothing else, the first two games of this series woke up the Nuggets. But they are officially back, officially here. They appear to be a major threat to win a second straight NBA title. — Tony Jones, NBA writer
Jokić dismantles Rudy Gobert
Gobert, a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, needs to rediscover his defensive mojo if the Timberwolves want to force a Game 7.
Jokić attacked Gobert relentlessly in Game 5, getting everything he wanted, rendering Minnesota’s defense null and void in a Game 5 fade.
A third quarter with 16 points ????
35 PTS / 5 CER / 12 AST pic.twitter.com/xIaGX1aeAC
-Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) May 15, 2024
The Wolves have generally resisted putting Gobert over Jokić directly, preferring Cities of Karl-Anthony to keep the MVP and Gobert to hide Aaron Gordon to help. It worked well in a Game 1 win in Denver, but there were several extended periods of the game Sunday in which Gobert was the one guarding Jokić. This didn’t go well.
Gobert participated in many shooting contests that no other player in the world, except Jokić, could overcome. But there were also far too many times where Jokić made things look too easy against the leader of Minnesota’s defense. The Nuggets MVP seemed to take advantage of every chance he got against Gobert, making quick, decisive moves to the basket for easy buckets that kept the Wolves from sustained runs.
Gobert missed Game 2 due to the birth of his son, which also proved to be Minnesota’s best defensive game of the series. They are 0-3 since his return, the first time this season the Wolves have lost three straight games.
All of this certainly didn’t depend solely on Gobert. Mike Conley missed the game with Achilles soreness, Edwards was just 5 of 15 and Naz Reid struggled with foul trouble and turnovers.
But the identity of this team all season has been defense, and Gobert is the head of the snake. Jokić dominates every player in front of him, but it shouldn’t be as easy as it is for him. If it’s Thursday in Minneapolis, this season will be over for the Timberwolves. — Jon Krawczynski, Timberwolves beat writer
GO FURTHER
How proud Wolves defender Rudy Gobert was shredded by the unstoppable Nikola Jokić
Wednesday’s program:
Required reading
(Top photo: Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
