The New York Knicks lived to see another day on Thursday in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, winning Game 5 by a score of 111-94. Tom Thibodeau's squad was led by franchise star Jalen Brunson, who erupted for 32 points in the must-win contest.

Following the victory, analyst Jason McIntyre appeared on “The Herd” with Colin Cowherd and heavily praised Brunson for how he played:

Brunson posted a stat line of 32 points, five assists, and five rebounds. He shot 12 for 18 from the field and 4 for 7 from three-point land. The Knicks guard came out of the gates on fire, scoring 14 of his points in the first quarter alone.

The Villanova product also played his part in slowing down Tyrese Haliburton, who had a historic Game 4. The Knicks held the Pacers' playmaker to just eight points in one of his worst performances in the playoffs. Indiana also committed 20 turnovers.

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“I'm just happy with the way we responded, honestly,” Brunson said, via ESPN. “We came out and had some energy to the way we played. I'm very proud of what we did, and we have to try to replicate it in the first quarter of the next game.”

Setting the tone early in games has been an issue in this series for the Knicks. Brunson helped his squad do that on Thursday, and it will be important that they do the same in Game 6 on Saturday in Indianapolis.  Josh Hart also praised Brunson for locking it down defensively:

“We don't need him to be a lockdown defender or anything like that,” Hart said. “We just need him to go out there and play physical, with intensity, and not foul. It's really just a competitive thing, an ego thing of like, ‘OK, I'm going to guard my yard.' It's having pride. I think he did that [tonight]. And we need him to do it in Indiana.”

If Brunson brings his best again on the weekend, the Knicks will have a real chance at forcing a Game 7 back at MSG.