Battling Brunson sparks Knicks past Pacers

NEW YORK (AFP) — Jalen Brunson shrugged off injury to spark a sensational second-half fightback as the New York Knicks battled past the Indiana Pacers, 130-121, to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven National Basketball Association playoff series on Wednesday.

New York talisman Brunson gave his team a huge scare after suffering a foot injury in the first quarter which forced him to sit out the remainder of the half at Madison Square Garden.

Indiana exploited Brunson’s absence to open up a 10-point advantage by half-time and were soon 12 points up in the third quarter after an early Andrew Nembhard layup.

But a limping Brunson — who returned at the start of the third quarter — led a stunning rally as the Knicks outscored Indiana 36-18 in the third to take a 99-91 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Knicks then dug deep to hold onto their advantage in the fourth, outscoring the Pacers 31-30 to close out a famous victory.

Brunson finished with 29 points and five assists while Donte DiVincenzo and OG Anunoby came up big with 28 points apiece.

Josh Hart added 19 points with 15 rebounds while Isaiah Hartenstein was huge defensively, with 12 rebounds, eight assists and 14 points.

“We found a way, that’s it,” an exhausted Brunson said.

“For us it starts with our habits — we’ve talked about doing the little things from day one a little bit better, because you never know when they’re going to help you in a big game.”

“It’s all about doing the little things well every single day, and we pride ourselves on that.”

The victory came at a cost though for the Knicks, who were already missing injured first-choice players Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanovic.

As well as the injury to Brunson on Wednesday, the Knicks saw another player injured with Anunoby limping out of the game in the third quarter with a hamstring problem.

Somehow the Knicks hung on to edge past the Pacers, with Brunson pouring in 14 fourth quarter points and DiVincenzo adding eight points including two crucial three-pointers that helped keep Indiana at arm’s length.