After surrendering a 20-point advantage in Game 3’s 106-100 loss to the New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle revealed what led to his team’s breakdown, which had plenty to do with Knicks All-Star Jalen Brunson. Brunson finished with 23 points on 6-of-18 shooting and went a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line. He also led his team to their comeback in the second half as New York pulled to 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals.

After the loss, Carlisle zeroed in on Brunson’s approach and how difficult it was for the Knicks to deter the All-Star guard’s offensive production, per SNY’s X, formerly Twitter.

“He’s a walking basket. He’s just hard to guard,” Carlisle said. “We’re trying to make it hard on him. I don’t know the entire sequence of everything down the stretch. He made one tough runner. That’s a wrong-footed contested two. It’s a shot he makes. But they made plays, and we didn’t when it got to that point. Give them credit, and we’ve got to do better.”

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle watched Knicks All-Star Jalen Brunson outscore the Pacers 36-20 in the final frame. Karl-Anthony Towns scored a game-high 24 points and pulled down 15 rebounds. Tyrese Haliburton’s 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting led the Pacers. He also finished with seven assists, four rebounds, and three steals, and Myles Turner added 19 points and two blocks. Indiana will host the Knicks in Game 4 on Tuesday.

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Pascal Siakam gets honest about Pacers losing Game 3

After Sunday’s loss, Siakam opened up about the Pacers losing Game 3. Siakam went through the steps that led to the Pacers’ second-half collapse, per the Indianapolis Star’s Dustin Dopirak.

“We didn’t make 3s. We didn’t play as fast. We didn’t attack the paint as much. They had guys that got going,” Siakam said. “They made plays. They played better on defense. Better than we did.”

The Pacers will look to take a 3-1 lead in Game 4.