INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — This Memorial Day there is a Ride for Freedom across central Indiana. Rolling Thunder Indiana Chapter 1 is hosting the annual ride from Indianapolis to Fort Wayne to honor fallen service members and remember the nation’s Prisoners of War and those Missing in Action (MIA).

The motorcyclists departed from Indianapolis on Monday morning at 9.m. from Fort Harrison Veterans Center in Indianapolis, headed to the to Harley Davidson of Fort Wayne.

Organizers say the Allen County Sheriff’s Department will then escort riders to the Veterans National Memorial Shrine and Museum in Fort Wayne, where the program will start at 1 p.m. The ceremony will include the presentation of the nation’s colors by the Marine Color Guard, singing of the national anthem, and the pledge of allegiance.

Next will be a bench dedication in honor of U.S. POWs/MIAs from all wars. The United States has more than 81,000 servicemembers still unaccounted for. Indiana has 104 from World War I, 1,497 from World War II, 169 from the Korean War, and 50 from the Vietnam War.

Fort Wayne Mayor Sharon Tucker will assist in placing a wreath to honor those who sacrificed their lives in defense of the country. She will also participate in the unveiling of the bench dedicated to POWs/MIAs.

Organizers say the Ride for Freedom and Memorial Day Ceremony serves as a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made by military personnel and the ongoing commitment to bring home those still unaccounted for.

The event is open to the public and organizers are inviting community members to pay their respects and support the cause.

This story was formatted for WISHTV.com using AI-assisted tools. Our editorial team reviews and edits all content published to ensure it meets our standards for accuracy and fairness.

• Pacers play the Knicks in Game 4 in Indianapolis at 8 p.m. Tuesday on TNT
• Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns scored 20 points in the first 7 minutes of the fourth quarter to lead comeback
• Towns on his game: ‘Fourth quarter’s different. It’s like a whole ‘nother game’

INDIANAPOLIS — The Pacers have a Karl-Anthony Towns problem.

A problem that hasn’t always been insurmountable through the first three games of the Eastern Conference Finals, but the kind of problem that can kill the Pacers if they give Towns an opening.

Indiana’s offense started to grind its gears midway through the third quarter of Sunday night’s 106-100 loss to New York, but the Knicks offense was still sputtering, hamstrung by the foul trouble of star guard Jalen Brunson.

New York needed somebody to provide the scoring.

Towns took over.

The Knicks big man poured in 20 points in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter, singlehandedly providing the scoring punch New York needed to turn an 80-70 Pacers lead at the start of the quarter into a 94-90 deficit with 5:10 left in the game.

“He went on the run,” Pacers forward Pascal Siakam said. “We’ve got to shut that off.”

Towns, the five-time All-Star the Knicks didn’t have when the Pacers ushered New York out of the playoffs last year, has given Indiana fits throughout this season.

He scored 30 points in the second regular-season meeting between the two teams, then thoroughly dominated the Pacers in February, pouring in 40 points to power the Knicks past Indiana in a game where Brunson had just eight points due to foul trouble.

Indiana’s impossible comeback in the fourth quarter of Game 1 overshadowed everything else that’s happened in the series.

But Towns was borderline unstoppable in that game, scoring 35 points on just 17 shots.

“KAT, as we know, is a very gifted scorer,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He can score at three different levels. He’s comfortable at the 3-point line, he’s comfortable putting it on the floor, he’s comfortable playing back to the basket, as long as he stays aggressive.”

Towns wasn’t aggressive enough through the first three quarters against the Pacers.

Frustrated by foul trouble and left behind at times by Indiana’s breakneck pace, Towns had just four points at the end of the third quarter.

With Brunson limited by his own foul trouble and relegated to the bench, though, Towns began to turn on the skills that have given the Pacers so much trouble in the past.

“I just saw an opportunity,” Towns said. “An opportunity to utilize all those hours that I put into the gym. The game wasn’t looking great for me, but for all of us. I just wanted to do whatever it takes to help put us in position to win.”

Towns largely needed only two different levels of scoring to go on the overpowering run that gave the Knicks control of Game 3 down the stretch.

Firing 3-pointers from a stance that looks almost flat-footed, Towns buried a long one 20 seconds into the fourth quarter to get going, and he hit two more by the end of the run, taking advantage every time the Pacers gave him space.

“He’s got a hair trigger,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. “You think you’re close enough to him, and he just flicks the wrist.”

The rest of his work was done off the dribble.

Indiana threw almost all of its bigs at Towns.

Myles Turner, the Pacers’ shot-blocking center, got the lion’s share of the workload in the fourth quarter, and he played Towns physical, refusing to give up easy buckets even if it meant fouling the surging Knick. Siakam had his chances; backup Tony Bradley had a few of his own, although Carlisle limited Bradley’s chances once it was clear that Towns had gotten white-hot.

For a little less than seven minutes, it didn’t much matter who was on Towns.

“Fourth quarter’s different,” Towns said. “It’s like a whole ‘nother game.”

When he saw an opening, Towns bullied his way to the basket, either making a difficult, contested layup or drawing a foul and heading to the free-throw line, where he made all five of his attempts to open the fourth quarter.

Indiana never came up with an answer, echoing a handful of other performances against Towns this season.

If the Pacers are going to keep the Knicks from fighting their way back into the series, they’re going to have to do a better job against the New York big man.

Indiana already has an idea of what went wrong.

“We probably fouled too much down there,” Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “He can see over guys, he’s 7-foot, he’s a big dude. We’ve got to get up, and do a better job of showing help in the gaps.”

But Siakam also pointed out that the Pacers can slow down Towns simply by answering his plays with points of their own, points that came too few and far between in a 42-point second half that is far behind Indiana’s typical pace.

The Pacers must be better on both sides of the ball for the rest of the series.

Because Towns has proven he will take advantage of an opening if the Pacers leave one.

The New York Knicks are down 2-0 to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, but they are far from out.

If the Knicks have taught us anything this season, they aren’t going to go away quietly.

ESPN analyst Zach Kram believes the Knicks have a chance to turn this series around with a win in Game 3 against the Pacers.

“One through line is that neither team can stop the other, which isn’t a surprise, since both boasted top-10 offenses but only middling defenses in the regular season,” Kram wrote. “That trend has carried over to the conference finals, where Indiana and New York have offensive ratings higher than 120. The most encouraging sign for the Knicks as they contemplate a comeback is that the Pacers still haven’t exhibited any ability to shut down Jalen Brunson, who has 79 points on 28-for-52 shooting (54%) through two games.”

“If Brunson can maintain that efficiency while the Knicks and Tom Thibodeau figure out any semblance of a strategy to slow the Pacers’ high-octane attack, then New York still has a chance to reach the Finals. But the odds aren’t in their favor after a disappointing set of games at the Garden.”

Brunson has been tremendous on offense during the series, but the defense hasn’t been able to do its job. The Pacers have torched the Knicks in the first two games, and that will be an issue if New York cannot find a way to contain them.

Luckily for the Knicks, the offense is there, and that’s half the battle. The Pacers have also not done a great job defending, but they managed to do enough to snag a Game 2 win.

The Knicks are down 2-0, but it could be worse, and for that, they are far from out of the Eastern Conference Finals.

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