'Problematic' First Quarter Dooms Knicks in Game 4

Such a start set the tone for another dire historic nugget: Tuesday marked just the third time that the Knicks lost a regulation playoff game where they scored at least 120 points and the first since 1990's opening round against the Boston Celtics.

The Indiana margin after the first 12 was almost entirely secured via Knick turnovers, as their four losses led to seven Pacer points in the other end. That also allowed Indiana to nearly match its seasonal average in fast break points during the opening stanza alone. The Pacers (17.4) placed fifth in the category during the regular season and have handily rattled the Knicks over the first four showings of their latest postseason clash.

To make metropolitan matters worse, Karl-Anthony Towns was removed after just 4:12, as he incurred two early fouls that forced another rotation expansion, this one briefly getting Precious Achiuwa involved. Tyrese Haliburton, on the other hand, literally got the ball rolling with 15 points, six assists, and five rebounds to set the Indianapolis tone. Per Scott Horner of the Indianapolis Star, it was the first 15-5-5 showing without a turnover in a postseason period since the data started being tracked in 1997.

Little more needs to be said about this postseason's propensity for New York comebacks: the only thing keeping the Knicks' season alive is a comeback from 20 points down in Game 3 and they're now a respectable 4-3 when trailing after the first 12 minutes during this playoff trip.

But the Knicks are once again facing sustainability questions about the thrilling nature in which they have earned their victories: while they mustered several ties and even some brief leads in the second period, the Knicks never got the gap any more narrow than five after the Pacers bridged the middle frames with a run of 13 unanswered points. Coming up short was not lost on center Karl-Anthony Towns, who closed Game 3 out with a 20-point fourth quarter.

"In true fashion to our whole playoff run, we put ourselves in a deficit, got ourselves out of the deficit," Towns, he of a 24-point, 12-rebound double-double, said, per Chris Herring of ESPN. "Then usually we feel good about us going into a close game in the fourth quarter and showing our resilience. But you get burned if you put yourself in that position too many times. We think coming into the fourth quarter that we're going to find that one trick again. We just didn't have that magic tonight."

Thanks to the brutal beginning, the Knicks will now have to muster any and all sorcery they have left: no Knick team is among the 13 groups that have erased a 3-1 deficit in the NBA postseason and only five have done it in the conference finals round or later. New York almost pulled off the feat against the Pacers in the 1995 conference semifinal tilt but failed to escape with the necessary Game 7 triumph.