NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Tyrese Haliburton followed his by getting held to single digits in everything.
With a passive performance from their playmaker, the Indiana Pacers failed in their first attempt to earn the second NBA Finals trip in franchise history, falling in Game 5 on Thursday night.
They will need Haliburton to be much closer to the player who dominated Game 4 than the one who managed only two baskets in Game 5 when they try again at home Saturday.
鈥淩ough night for me,鈥� Haliburton said.
Haliburton had 32 points, 15 assists, 12 rebounds and no turnovers in Game 4, the first 30-15-10 in the postseason since turnovers were first tracked in 1977-78.
But he was limited to eight points, six assists and two rebounds Thursday. The All-NBA point guard didn't even have a basket in the first half, when the Pacers' total of 45 points was just two more than the had in the first quarter of Game 4.
鈥淚鈥檝e got to be better setting the tone, getting downhill. I feel like I didn鈥檛 do a great job of that but I鈥檒l watch the film," Haliburton said. 鈥淭here were some different things they did defensively, but for the most part their base stuff was the same. They picked up the pressure a little bit more, try to apply more as the game went on. But I've got to be better and I will be better in Game 6.鈥�
The Knicks cut down on some of the mistakes they made in Game 4 that allowed Haliburton and the Pacers to get their transition game going. And they were much sharper in the halfcourt, rarely letting him penetrate into the lane to set up opportunities for himself of his teammates.
鈥淚t鈥檚 probably a combination of him missing some shots he normally makes, but I thought our guys were tied together and trying to make him work for everything and that鈥檚 what you have to do,鈥� Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.
The Pacers were held to their lowest point total of the postseason and shot just 40.5% from the field. Haliburton wasn't the only one who struggled, with Aaron Nesmith going just 1 for 8 on the same court he had a postseason career-high 30 points to spark Indiana's comeback in Game 1.
Pascal Siakam, who had his postseason career high of 39 in Game 2, was limited to 15 鈥� and that made him the only Indiana starter in double figures.
鈥淲e weren鈥檛 great as a group,鈥� Haliburton said.
鈥淲e turned the ball over too much, didn鈥檛 rebound to our ability (like) we have shown this series. When you (don鈥檛) do those two things against these guys in a game that comes down to so many possessions, it鈥檚 tough. So, we've got to be better as a group. I think our pace has to be better and that starts with me. I've got to be better there. 鈥�
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AP NBA:
Brian Mahoney, The Associated Press
