Cancun can wait.
The Knicks aren’t ready for the offseason just yet.
They kept their NBA Finals dreams – albeit slim – alive with their most complete performance of the Eastern Conference finals.
Facing elimination for the first time this postseason, Tom Thibodeau’s team was sharp.
It played with force and focus. It defended, limited the Pacers in transition and hammered them in the paint, sending this series back to Indiana for Game 6 Saturday night after a thorough wire-to-wire 111-94 victory at the Garden.
Jalen Brunson owned the first and third quarters, Karl-Anthony Towns was dominant in the second and fourth, and everyone else did their part as the Knicks extended the series in emphatic fashion.
“Knicks in Seven” chants began late in the fourth quarter, with the contest well in hand.
“We were able to get stops early and convert,” Brunson said. “We just played better tonight, we played to our standards, we played Knicks basketball tonight. One game at a time one quarter at a time.”
This marked the first game of the series when the Knicks were really able to slow down the Pacers for an entire game.
On Tuesday, Tyrese Haliburton obliterated them and Indiana exploded for 130 points. But two nights later, Haliburton was an afterthought, held without a field goal in the first half and limited to eight points, six assists and a minus-23 rating.
The Pacers’ 45 first-half points were their second-fewest total of the postseason. Pascal Siakam, who has terrorized the Knicks throughout this series, had just 15 points on 13 shots.
Brunson took charge from the start, and finished with an efficient 32 points on 12-of-18 shooting along with five assists. Towns added 24 points, 13 rebounds and a game-high, plus-26 rating. Mitchell Robinson (six points, six rebounds, two blocks) rebounded to wreak havoc inside and Josh Hart notched a double-double off the bench of 11 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.
Brunson ensured a strong start by coming out firing. He hit six of his first seven shots and the Knicks led by 10 midway through the first quarter. It was their best first half of the series.
They defended, shared the ball and played with force, leading by as much as 14. Haliburton missed all three of his field goal attempts. Aaron Nesmith and Myles Turner were non-factors.
The Knicks outscored the Pacers by 18 in the paint, were plus-seven on the glass and had 11 second-chance points. Towns, despite a bum left knee, had 17 points and 10 rebounds. He was the best player on the floor. Landry Shamet (plus 10) and Delon Wright (plus-eight) again provided strong minutes, particularly defensively, keying a 16-4 run in which five different Knicks scored.
If not for their six second-quarter turnovers, the Knicks would’ve led by more than 11 at halftime. Their defense was strong, holding the Pacers to 37.5 percent shooting and their lowest output at the half of the series.
It continued into the third quarter, the period that doomed the Knicks in Game 4. They scored 16 of the first 23 points of the quarter to build a 20-point cushion. Brunson scored 10 of those points and on consecutive possessions Robinson scored on a follow and blocked Haliburton on a drive.
The Pacers responded by getting within 10, only for the Knicks to punch back immediately with a 10-0 burst of their own. It was a 17-point lead after three quarters, and the series was headed back to Indianapolis.
