Thibodeau stresses no playoff lead safe after Knicks' 20-point comeback
The New York Knicks needed a historic effort to avoid going down 3-0 in the Eastern Conference finals. They got one.
Tom Thibodeau's side erased a 20-point Indiana Pacers lead to win 106-100 in Game 3 on Sunday, cementing this year's Knicks as the only team to win three games in which it trailed by 20 or more points in a single postseason.
"In playoff basketball - I know you guys roll your eyes when I say 'No lead is safe,' but no lead is safe," Thibodeau said of his team's second-half turnaround. "Because I think with the 3-point shot, people make up ground quickly. The pace of the game. ... You see comebacks all the time. And if you let up just a little bit, that's what happens. So, you got to win games different ways.
"Obviously, you prefer to play from a lead, but whatever it is that you have to do, that's what you have to do to get the win in the end. Going into the game, we talked about, 'You don't play the series, you play the games. Just focus in on what it takes to win tonight's game.' That's all we're thinking about."
New York's other such comebacks this postseason both came against the Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals. After stunning Boston in overtime on its own floor in Game 1, the Knicks pulled off a second consecutive 20-point recovery to silence TD Garden again and return home with a 2-0 series lead.
Center Karl-Anthony Towns, who only played five-and-a-half minutes in the fourth quarter of the Knicks' Game 2 loss, spearheaded their rally Sunday by scoring 20 of his 24 points and shooting 6-of-9, including 3-of-4 from deep, in the final frame.
"KAT, when he gets in that zone like that, it's gonna be tough to stop him," forward Mikal Bridges told media postgame, including SNY. "We needed every single point that he gave us in that fourth quarter."
Game 4 tips off Tuesday in Indianapolis at 8 p.m. ET.