Karl-Anthony Towns erupts as Knicks stun Pacers in Game 3

But as much as Tom Thibodeau doesn’t know when to quit on a lineup, these Knicks equally don’t know when to quit, and they’re better for it.

Jalen Brunson was called for his fourth foul halfway through the third quarter. So, naturally, New York responded with a 24-7 run that stretched into a fourth quarter in which history was made. Brunson watched from the bench.

Miles McBride, who was held back by foul trouble of his own, kicked things off with a personal 7-point run of his own to end the third.

Then the torch passed to Karl-Anthony Towns, who rattled off eight points over the first two minutes of the fourth quarter to bring the Knicks within three.

Indiana did their best to stave off Towns. But he ended up with 20 points in the final frame to help pull New York off the ledge in this series.

Grit, resilience, and willingness are all adjectives you can use to tell the story of this game. When the going got really tough, the tough finally got going.

Game 4 now weighs even heavier for the Pacers. New York is coming off their first-ever playoff win at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

The gap between being down 3-0 versus 2-1 is wider than the 711 miles that separates these two teams’ home arenas. More interestingly, a Knicks team that can win without Brunson is the toughest kind seen in New York in over 25 years.

Game 4 will take place on May 27, with tip-off scheduled for 8:00 pm ET.

Quoth the great Lenny Kravitz, or Sylvester Stallone playing Rocky Balboa, it doesn’t matter which; all that matters is “it ain’t over ’til it’s over.”