INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Andrew Nembhard made a 31-foot, tiebreaking 3-pointer with 16 seconds left, Tyrese Haliburton scored 35 points and the Indiana Pacers rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the banged-up and short-handed New York Knicks 111-106 on Friday night in Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Knicks still lead the best-of-seven series 2-1 with Game 4 set for Sunday in Indianapolis.
New York led by nine with 9:45 remaining and was in position to take a commanding 3-0 lead, but with Jalen Brunson slowed by a right foot injury, the Knicks couldn’t hold on.
Nembhard scored only five points — all in the final minute — while Haliburton finished with his second straight playoff career high. Pascal Siakam added 26 points and seven rebounds, and Myles Turner had 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Elsewhere in the NBA on Friday:
NUGGETS 117 TIMBERWOLVES 90
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Canadian Jamal Murray rebounded from a rough start to the Western Conference semifinals with 24 points to lead Denver on a romp in Game 3 that made Minnesota the last team in the NBA to lose this post-season.
Nikola Jokic, the three-time league MVP, had 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists, Michael Porter Jr. scored 21 points and the Nuggets cut the Timberwolves’ series lead to 2-1 on the strength of their 14-for-29 shooting from 3-point range.
Anthony Edwards had a quiet 19 points to lead the Wolves, who went just 10 for 32 from deep even with a 4-for-5 effort from Karl-Anthony Towns. They failed to get Towns (14 points) enough shots, fumbled the ball too often in desperate attempts to drive to the basket and simply played slower than they did in the first two games in Denver, falling behind by as many as 34 points down the stretch.
Game 4 is in Minneapolis on Sunday night.
The Associated Press
