The Indiana Pacers looked like they were on their way to taking a commanding 3-0 lead in the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals over their sworn rival, the New York Knicks. They took a 20-point lead in the first half and capitalized on the Knicks' lifelessness. Alas, even with Jalen Brunson in foul trouble for a good chunk of the game, the Pacers saw their lead get trimmed down gradually in the second half, with Karl-Anthony Towns' 20-point fourth quarter breathing new life into the Knicks en route to a 106-100 Indiana defeat.

There is no such thing as a safe lead in the NBA nowadays, and the Knicks gave the Pacers a dose of their own comeback medicine. For head coach Rick Carlisle, he attributes their Game 3 loss to the momentum that they lost towards the end of the third quarter, which led to a slow start in the fourth quarter that they couldn't quite jolt themselves wide awake from.

“Poor job of closing the third quarter and not a good enough start of the fourth quarter. Turned it into a real back and forth game… and we did not execute enough,” Carlisle said in his postgame presser, per Tony East of Sports Illustrated.

The Pacers uncharacteristically let their foot off the gas pedal after going up by 20; the Knicks had trimmed down the Pacers' lead to just 13 by the halftime interval instead of allowing them to go for the kill. Moreover, he may have given the likes of Tony Bradley and Bennedict Mathurin a few too many minutes. Mathurin, in particular, has looked lost in this series.

It did not help matters whatsoever as well that the Pacers lost Aaron Nesmith to an ankle injury for a good portion of the game. But whatever the case may be, the Pacers cannot allow this loss to snowball into something worse.

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Pacers' bad Game 3 run continues

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) reacts to a call during the second quarter against the New York Knicks during game three of the eastern conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

The Pacers have not won a single Game 3 in this year's playoffs. They were blown out by the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers after taking a 2-0 lead, so it's not like this loss to the Knicks is something that will damage the team mentally.

However, those previous losses did not see Indiana go up by 20 the way they did on Sunday night. It is typically the Pacers that come back from huge deficits, but instead, the Knicks gave them a dose of their own medicine, saving their season in the process.