Game ID: 42400303
New York Knicks @ Indiana Pacers
Sunday, May 25, 2025 at 8:00 PM ET
Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
IND 30 28 22 20 100NYK 26 19 25 36 106
IND vs NYK ScoutingIND vs NYK Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
IND availability going into 5/11 · 1 day's restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 84 since 11/04, out tonight
IND availability going into 5/13 · 1 day's restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 85 since 11/04, out tonight
IND availability going into 5/21 · 7 days' restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 86 since 11/04, out tonight
IND availability going into 5/23 · 1 day's restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 87 since 11/04, out tonight
NEW Nesmith 26 to 32 min over the last 5
IND availability going into 5/25 · 1 day's restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 88 since 11/04, out tonight
OUT Walker missed 2 since 5/21, out tonight
NEW Nesmith 26 to 32 min over the last 5
IND availability going into 5/27 · 1 day's restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 89 since 11/04, out tonight
OUT Walker missed 3 since 5/21, out tonight
NEW Nembhard 30 to 36 min over the last 5
NEW Nesmith 26 to 31 min over the last 5
IND availability going into 5/29 · 1 day's restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 90 since 11/04, out tonight
OUT Walker missed 4 since 5/21, returns tonight: 13 min (88% of 15)
OUT Bryant missed 2 since 5/25, returns tonight: 5 min (37% of 13)
NEW Nembhard 30 to 35 min over the last 5
NEW Nesmith 26 to 33 min over the last 5
IND availability going into 5/31 · 1 day's restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 91 since 11/04, out tonight
BACK Walker back 5/29 after 4, 13 min since (88% of 15)
BACK Bryant back 5/29 after 2, 5 min since (37% of 13)
IND availability going into 6/05 · 4 days' restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 92 since 11/04, out tonight
BACK Walker back 5/29 after 4, 10 min since (68% of 15)
BACK Bryant back 5/29 after 2, 9 min since (67% of 13)
NYK availability going into 5/14 · 1 day's restOUT Tucker missed 10 since 4/19, out tonight
BACK Achiuwa back 5/05 after 6, 4 min since (21% of 18)
BACK Wright back 5/10 after 8, 3 min since (22% of 14)
BACK Shamet back 5/10 after 4, 3 min since (22% of 14)
NEW Bridges 37 to 44 min over the last 5
NYK availability going into 5/16 · 1 day's restOUT Tucker missed 11 since 4/19, returns tonight: 4 min (28% of 16)
OUT Wright missed 2 since 5/12, out tonight
BACK Achiuwa back 5/05 after 6, 4 min since (20% of 18)
BACK Shamet back 5/10 after 4, 3 min since (21% of 14)
NEW Bridges 37 to 43 min over the last 5
NYK availability going into 5/21 · 4 days' restOUT Wright missed 3 since 5/12, returns tonight: 0 min (3% of 14)
BACK Tucker back 5/16 after 11, 4 min since (28% of 16)
BACK Shamet back 5/10 after 4, 4 min since (26% of 14)
NYK availability going into 5/23 · 1 day's restBACK Tucker back 5/16 after 11, 4 min since (28% of 16)
BACK Wright back 5/10 after 8, 2 min since (13% of 14)
BACK Shamet back 5/10 after 4, 4 min since (26% of 14)
NYK availability going into 5/25 · 1 day's restOUT Achiuwa missed 2 since 5/21, out tonight
OUT Tucker missed 2 since 5/21, out tonight
OUT Shamet missed 2 since 5/21, returns tonight: 11 min (83% of 14)
BACK Wright back 5/21 after 3, 0 min since (3% of 14)
NYK availability going into 5/27 · 1 day's restOUT Achiuwa missed 3 since 5/21, returns tonight: 2 min (13% of 18)
OUT Tucker missed 3 since 5/21, out tonight
BACK Wright back 5/21 after 3, 7 min since (49% of 14)
BACK Shamet back 5/25 after 2, 11 min since (83% of 14)
NYK availability going into 5/29 · 1 day's restOUT Tucker missed 4 since 5/21, out tonight
OUT Payne missed 2 since 5/25, out tonight
BACK Achiuwa back 5/27 after 3, 2 min since (13% of 18)
BACK Wright back 5/21 after 3, 8 min since (55% of 14)
BACK Shamet back 5/25 after 2, 11 min since (82% of 14)
NYK availability going into 5/31 · 1 day's restOUT Tucker missed 5 since 5/21, out tonight
OUT Payne missed 3 since 5/25, out tonight
BACK Achiuwa back 5/27 after 3, 4 min since (22% of 18)
BACK Wright back 5/21 after 3, 8 min since (59% of 14)
BACK Shamet back 5/25 after 2, 12 min since (89% of 14)
I Know — the desk, before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Indiana comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 120 a night and allowing 117, shooting 50 percent and 40 from three, 25 free throws a game; Siakam at 23 and Haliburton at 18 a game. That is 4 straight wins. It has lost the glass by 7 a night. Without Isa. Jackson (88 straight), Walker (2 straight). One day's rest. New York comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 117 a night and allowing 115, shooting 47 percent and 35 from three, 27 free throws a game; Brunson at 33 and Towns at 24 a game. It has won the glass by 8 a night. Without Achiuwa (2 straight), Tucker (2 straight). One day's rest.
So: Indiana wins, and the game turns on the glass, where New York has been plus-8 a night and Indiana minus-7 and the arc, Indiana at 40 percent from three to New York's 35. Call it Indiana 117, New York 115, New York keeping it close.
5/11 vs CLE 129-109 — IND notes
IND won 129-109. IND shot 53% (49 of 93) to CLE's 43%, 15 of 35 from three, and got to the line 20 times to CLE's 40. IND turned it over 10 times to CLE's 22. Siakam led with 21 (9 of 10); Turner added 20, Toppin 20. The hinge was Q2, 42-16: a lead of 15 became 41, and the lead reached 44. Siakam was the night's best plus/minus at +29.
5/13 @ CLE 114-105 — IND notes
IND won 114-105. IND shot 50% (41 of 82) to CLE's 39%, 15 of 35 from three, and got to the line 22 times to CLE's 37. Haliburton led with 31 (10 of 15, 6 of 10 from three, 5 of 6 at the line); Siakam added 21, Nembhard 18. The hinge was Q3, 33-20: IND came in trailing by 4 and left it ahead by 9. IND trailed 52-56 at the half and won the second half 62-49. Haliburton was the night's best plus/minus at +27.
5/21 @ NYK 138-135 — IND notes
IND won 138-135 in 1 overtime. IND shot 51% (51 of 100) to NYK's 51%, 15 of 37 from three, and got to the line 28 times to NYK's 40. IND turned it over 7 times to NYK's 15. Haliburton led with 31 (12 of 23, 4 of 12 from three); Nesmith added 30, Siakam 17. The hinge was Q3, 25-21: the deficit went from 7 to 3. IND trailed 62-69 at the half and won the second half 76-66. Haliburton was the night's best plus/minus at +15.
5/23 @ NYK 114-109 — IND notes
IND won 114-109. IND shot 52% (43 of 83) to NYK's 48%, 13 of 30 from three. Siakam led with 39 (15 of 23, 3 of 5 from three, 6 of 8 at the line); Turner added 16, Haliburton 14. The hinge was Q4, 33-28: from level to 5 ahead. IND trailed 49-52 at the half and won the second half 65-57. Turner was the night's best plus/minus at +17.
5/25 vs NYK 100-106 — IND notes
IND lost 100-106. IND shot 44% (34 of 77) to NYK's 44%, 5 of 25 from three. Haliburton led with 20 (7 of 15, 2 of 8 from three); Turner added 19, Siakam 17. Q2 was theirs, 28-19, but the other 3 periods went 87-72 against them. They led by as many as 20. Siakam's -21 in 35 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/27 vs NYK — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Indiana comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 119 a night and allowing 113, shooting 50 percent and 39 from three, 25 free throws a game; Siakam at 23 and Haliburton at 21 a game. Without Isa. Jackson (89 straight), Walker (3 straight). One day's rest. New York comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 114 a night and allowing 112, shooting 45 percent and 35 from three, 30 free throws a game; Brunson at 29 and Towns at 24 a game. It has won the glass by 5 a night. Without Achiuwa (3 straight), Tucker (3 straight). One day's rest.
So: Indiana wins, and the game turns on the glass, where New York has been plus-5 a night and Indiana minus-3 and the line, where New York takes 30 free throws a game to Indiana's 25. Call it Indiana 116, New York 113, New York keeping it close.
5/29 @ NYK — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
New York comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 118 a night and allowing 113, shooting 47 percent and 36 from three, 30 free throws a game; Brunson at 31 and Towns at 25 a game. It has won the glass by 8 a night. Without Tucker (4 straight). One day's rest. Indiana comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 119 a night and allowing 115, shooting 50 percent and 38 from three, 27 free throws a game; Haliburton at 26 and Siakam at 25 a game. It has lost the glass by 4 a night. Without Isa. Jackson (90 straight), Walker (4 straight). One day's rest.
So: New York wins, and the game turns on the glass, where New York has been plus-8 a night and Indiana minus-4 and the turnovers, New York giving it away 14 times a game to Indiana's 11. Call it New York 117, Indiana 114, Indiana keeping it close.
5/31 vs NYK — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Indiana comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 115 a night and allowing 116, shooting 48 percent and 36 from three, 29 free throws a game; Siakam at 24 and Haliburton at 21 a game. It has lost the glass by 6 a night. Without Isa. Jackson (91 straight). One day's rest. New York comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 116 a night and allowing 115, shooting 48 percent and 34 from three, 30 free throws a game; Brunson at 33 and Towns at 25 a game. It has won the glass by 6 a night. Without Tucker (5 straight). One day's rest.
So: Indiana wins, and the game turns on the glass, where New York has been plus-6 a night and Indiana minus-6. Call it Indiana 116, New York 114, New York keeping it close.
6/05 @ OKC — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
OKC comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 117 a night and allowing 111, shooting 49 percent and 38 from three, 22 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 31 and Jal. Williams at 22 a game. 7 days' rest. Indiana comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 113 a night and allowing 111, shooting 49 percent and 39 from three, 27 free throws a game; Siakam at 26 and Haliburton at 19 a game. It has lost the glass by 5 a night. Without Isa. Jackson (92 straight). 4 days' rest.
So: OKC wins, in a game with no one edge to lean on. Call it OKC 117, Indiana 111.
5/14 @ BOS 102-127 — NYK notes
NYK lost 102-127. NYK shot 36% (29 of 81) to BOS's 52%, 12 of 30 from three, and went to the line 40 times to BOS's 26 — 32 points from the stripe to their 17. Hart led with 24 (7 of 15, 5 of 9 from three, 5 of 6 at the line); Brunson added 22, Towns 19. Q1 was theirs, 32-30, but the other 3 periods went 97-70 against them. Bridges's -25 in 40 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/16 vs BOS 119-81 — NYK notes
NYK won 119-81. NYK shot 46% (42 of 91) to BOS's 36%, 16 of 45 from three, and went to the line 21 times to BOS's 10 — 19 points from the stripe to their 7. The glass went 55-36 for them. Anunoby led with 23 (7 of 18, 4 of 13 from three); Brunson added 23, Bridges 22. The hinge was Q2, 38-17: a lead of 6 became 27, and the lead reached 41. Brunson was the night's best plus/minus at +30.
5/21 vs IND 135-138 — NYK notes
NYK lost 135-138 in 1 overtime. NYK shot 51% (48 of 94) to IND's 51%, 11 of 34 from three, and went to the line 40 times to IND's 28 — 28 points from the stripe to their 21. NYK turned it over 15 times to IND's 7. Brunson led with 43 (15 of 25, 1 of 6 from three, 12 of 14 at the line); Towns added 35, Bridges 16. Q2 was theirs, 33-28, but the other 4 periods went 110-102 against them. They led by as many as 17. Bridges's -15 in 46 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/23 vs IND 109-114 — NYK notes
NYK lost 109-114. NYK shot 48% (40 of 84) to IND's 52%, 11 of 32 from three. Brunson led with 36 (13 of 27, 5 of 12 from three); Bridges added 20, Towns 20. Q1 was theirs, 26-24, but the other 3 periods went 90-83 against them. Towns's -20 in 28 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/25 @ IND 106-100 — NYK notes
NYK won 106-100. NYK shot 44% (34 of 78) to IND's 44%, 11 of 32 from three. Towns led with 24 (8 of 17, 3 of 7 from three, 5 of 6 at the line); Brunson added 23, Anunoby 16. The hinge was Q4, 36-20: NYK came in trailing by 10 and left it ahead by 6. NYK trailed 45-58 at the half and won the second half 61-42.
5/27 @ IND — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Indiana comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 119 a night and allowing 113, shooting 50 percent and 39 from three, 25 free throws a game; Siakam at 23 and Haliburton at 21 a game. Without Isa. Jackson (89 straight), Walker (3 straight). One day's rest. New York comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 114 a night and allowing 112, shooting 45 percent and 35 from three, 30 free throws a game; Brunson at 29 and Towns at 24 a game. It has won the glass by 5 a night. Without Achiuwa (3 straight), Tucker (3 straight). One day's rest.
So: Indiana wins, and the game turns on the glass, where New York has been plus-5 a night and Indiana minus-3 and the line, where New York takes 30 free throws a game to Indiana's 25. Call it Indiana 116, New York 113, New York keeping it close.
5/29 vs IND — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
New York comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 118 a night and allowing 113, shooting 47 percent and 36 from three, 30 free throws a game; Brunson at 31 and Towns at 25 a game. It has won the glass by 8 a night. Without Tucker (4 straight). One day's rest. Indiana comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 119 a night and allowing 115, shooting 50 percent and 38 from three, 27 free throws a game; Haliburton at 26 and Siakam at 25 a game. It has lost the glass by 4 a night. Without Isa. Jackson (90 straight), Walker (4 straight). One day's rest.
So: New York wins, and the game turns on the glass, where New York has been plus-8 a night and Indiana minus-4 and the turnovers, New York giving it away 14 times a game to Indiana's 11. Call it New York 117, Indiana 114, Indiana keeping it close.
5/31 @ IND — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Indiana comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 115 a night and allowing 116, shooting 48 percent and 36 from three, 29 free throws a game; Siakam at 24 and Haliburton at 21 a game. It has lost the glass by 6 a night. Without Isa. Jackson (91 straight). One day's rest. New York comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 116 a night and allowing 115, shooting 48 percent and 34 from three, 30 free throws a game; Brunson at 33 and Towns at 25 a game. It has won the glass by 6 a night. Without Tucker (5 straight). One day's rest.
So: Indiana wins, and the game turns on the glass, where New York has been plus-6 a night and Indiana minus-6. Call it Indiana 116, New York 114, New York keeping it close.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
NYKDW D. Wright
JB J. Brunson
JH J. Hart
KT K. Towns
LS L. Shamet
MB M. Bridges
MM M. McBride
MR M. Robinson
OA O. Anunoby
INDAN A. Nembhard
AN A. Nesmith
BM B. Mathurin
BS B. Sheppard
MT M. Turner
OT O. Toppin
PS P. Siakam
TB T. Bradley
TH T. Haliburton
TM T. McConnell
NYK/IND the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
Knicks charge back from 20 points down, beat Pacers 106-100 to cut series deficit to 2-1
INDIANAPOLIS -- — With the New York Knicks teetering on the brink of a third consecutive playoff loss and Jalen Brunson stuck on the bench with five fouls after three quarters, Karl-Anthony Towns took matters into his own hands.
The Knicks needed everything he could muster — even on a sore knee.
Towns scored 20 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter as New York erased yet another 20-point deficit, and Brunson helped close out the 106-100 victory Sunday night to take Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals — making it three straight wins for the road team.
“It’s a true test when you’re down 20-plus,” Towns said. “Tonight was the kind of night where he had to have that never-say-die attitude.”
New York still trails in the series 2-1 with Game 4 set for Tuesday night in Indianapolis.
But with the Knicks trailing by 16 midway through the third quarter and still down 10 entering the fourth, the dreaded 3-0 deficit looked like a real possibility — until Towns asserted himself by driving to the basket and muscling his way into position for more scores. He opened the fourth with a 3-pointer before making two layups to get New York within 82-79.
Brunson's layup with 7:10 to play finally gave New York an 89-88 lead and New York trailed only two more times the rest of the night. The Knicks never led by more than four until the final free throws with 2.6 seconds left. Brunson finished with 23 points despite spending most of the night in foul trouble.
“They put me in great spots to succeed, and I just wanted to capitalize on the opportunity,” Towns said after also grabbing 15 rebounds. “All of us are just trying to do whatever it takes to win, get ourselves back in the game. We wanted to put ourselves in a position to where at the end of the game we found ourselves with a chance of winning.”
Tyrese Haliburton led the Pacers with 20 points and six assists. Myles Turner added 19 points as Indiana dropped to 0-4 all-time when playing on the same day the Indianapolis 500 was run. Two of those losses came to the Knicks.
Team officials handed out gold-and-blue T-shirts with the words “Vroom Baby” to celebrate the rare Pacers and racers doubleheader, and the winner Spain's Alex Palou. made the short trek across town where he received during the second quarter — as Indiana started pulling away to a 55-35 lead late in the first half. Six players from Indiana's 2000 Eastern Conference champs, including Hall of Famer Reggie Miller , also were inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
But after rallying twice from fourth-quarter deficits to take the first two games in New York, and losing their top defender, Aaron Nesmith , with a sprained right ankle in the third quarter, Indiana failed to seal this one.
Nesmith returned in the fourth quarter but coach Rick Carlisle said he wouldn't know more about Nesmith's chances to play Game 4 until Monday.
“Regardless of who's out there, we've got to be able to attack better and do the things to maintain it and finish the game,” he said. “We just simply did not execute as well as we needed to.”