NEW YORK Knicks overcame injuries to some of its key players to score a 130-121 win over Indiana Pacers in Game 2 of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals on Wednesday night (Thursday in the Philippines) at the Madison Square Garden in New York.
Clinging to a slim 110-108 win in the fourth quarter, the Knicks relied on connections from Isaiah Hartenstein, Donte DiVincenzo, and Jalen Brunson to establish a 121-113 lead with over two minutes left.
The Pacers tried to rally back with conversions from Tyrese Haliburton, but a three-pointer by DiVincenzo and free throws by Brunson sealed the win for the Knicks.
Brunson, who briefly exited in the second quarter with a sore knee, top-scored for the Knicks with 29 points, while OG Anunoby added 28 points before being ruled out from third quarted onwards due to a hamstring injury.
DiVincenzo also ended up with 28 points, including six three-point connections, Josh Hart had 19 points, 15 rebounds, and seven assists, while Hartenstein tallied 14 as the Knicks took a 2-0 series lead.
Haliburton led the Pacers with 34 points, Obi Toppin added 20 markers, while Andrew Nembhard, Paskal Siakam, Ben Sheppard, and TJ McConnell had 15, 14, 11, and 10 points, respectively.
Meanwhile, Denver Nuggets center Nikola JokiÄ was hailed as 2023-2024 NBA Season Most Valuable Player, his third trophy in the last four seasons.
The Serbian center averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 9.0 assists in the regular season, beating Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic of the in final voting for the award.
JokiÄ joins Moses Malone, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson as three-time MVP winners after earning 79 first-placed votes compared to 15 for Gilgeous-Alexander and four for Doncic.
The Nuggets dropped the first two games of their Western Conference semi-final series to the Minnesota Timberwolves, putting their title defense in peril./PN
BOX SCORE:
NEW YORK 130 — Brunson 29, Anunoby 28, DiVincenzo 28, Hart 19, Hartenstein 14, Achiuwa 8, McBride 4, Burks 0.
INDIANA 121 — Haliburton 34, Toppin 20, Nembhard 15, Siakam 14, Sheppard 11, McConnell 10, Turner 6, Nesmith 6, Jackson 5.
Quarterscores: 36-36, 63-73, 99-91, 130-121.
