Pacers have no answers for Karl-Anthony Towns in 4th quarter of Game 3 loss to Knicks

• 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.