Knicks

NEW YORK — The New York Knicks fired coach Tom Thibodeau on Tuesday just days after their first trip to the Eastern Conference finals in 25 years, a person with knowledge of the decision told the Associated Press.

The Knicks were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers with a loss in Game 6 on Saturday night. They then decided to move on from Thibodeau, who led them to the postseason in four of his five seasons in New York.

The decision was made by team president Leon Rose with approval from owner Jim Dolan, the person told the AP on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made. The firing was first reported by ESPN.

It’s a strange decision by the Knicks, who had been one of the league’s worst franchises for most of the 2000s until Thibodeau was hired in 2020. He promptly led the Knicks to the playoffs in his first season, winning his second NBA Coach of the Year award, and they have been a solid contender in the East in recent seasons.

Their big breakthrough came in 2024-25, when they knocked off defending champion Boston in the second round to reach the conference finals for the first time since 2000 — when Thibodeau was an assistant under Jeff Van Gundy.

After they were eliminated Saturday, captain Jalen Brunson expressed his support for Thibodeau, bristling at a question about whether he believed the coach was right for the team.

Three days later, Thibodeau was gone with a 226-174 record in New York. He has the fourth-most wins by a Knicks coach.

A late scoring binge by Karl-Anthony Towns allowed New York Knicks to beat the Indiana Pacers for the first time this playoff series.

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 20 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter and collected a game-high 15 rebounds to help the New York Knicks notch a crucial 106-100 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals at Indianapolis.

The big fourth quarter marked just the second time a New York player scored 20 points in a quarter in a playoff game, and in the process, it kept the Knicks in the series. Jalen Brunson set the franchise record with 21 in a quarter against the Pacers in Game 1 of last season’s conference semifinals.

“When I got a chance to do what I do in the fourth, I was going to make sure I seized the opportunity,” Towns said on Sunday. “I just wanted to go there to give our team a chance to win. I’m just happy I was able to do that.”

Towns flirted with overheating when he scored 15 points in the first 3:58 of the quarter to give New York an 87-85 lead. But his offensive explosion was the fuel the Knicks needed.

“KAT [Karl-Anthony Towns] is a very gifted scorer,” New York coach Tom Thibodeau said of Towns, who played him for fewer than 28 minutes in Game 2’s 114-109 loss. “He can score three levels – he’s comfortable at the 3-point line, he’s comfortable putting it on the floor, and he’s comfortable playing back to the basket. As long as he stays aggressive, it’s a huge plus for us.”

New York will attempt to even the best-of-seven series at 2-2 on Tuesday night at Indianapolis.

“Unpredictable,” Brunson said of the series. “Obviously, no lead is safe. Both teams are going to fight until the buzzer.”

Brunson scored 23 points despite 6-of-18 shooting but made all 10 free throw attempts for New York, which recovered from a 20-point, second-quarter deficit. OG Anunoby had 16 points and Mikal Bridges added 15 for the third-seeded Knicks.

Tyrese Haliburton scored 20 points and Myles Turner had 19 for fourth-seeded Indiana, which opened the series with two road victories. Pascal Siakam had 17 points and TJ McConnell tallied 12 for the Pacers, who had just 42 second-half points.

“We didn’t do a good enough job of continuing to play fast,” Haliburton said. “I felt I did a poor job of keeping pace in the game, especially in the fourth … A 42-point half isn’t us.”

Knicks’ rally late

New York’s comeback was reminiscent of the Eastern Conference semifinals when the Knicks rallied from 20-point deficits in each of the first two games in Boston to earn victories en route to eventually winning the series in six games.

Indiana led most of the game but needed two free throws apiece from Turner and Siakam to tie the game at 98 with 1:37 left. Brunson hit a runner 20 seconds later to put New York back ahead.

Josh Hart made two free throws with 19.6 seconds left for the Knicks before Haliburton answered with two foul shots with 9.7 seconds left to pull Indiana within 102-100.

Brunson hit two free throws to make it a four-point margin with 8.1 seconds left, and Hart wrapped it up with two of his own with 2.6 seconds remaining.

New York trailed by 15 late in the third quarter and by 80-70 entering the fourth quarter, but Towns came racing out of the gates in the fourth quarter.

A three-point play by Towns gave the Knicks the 87-85 advantage at 8:02 of the quarter, the team’s first lead since the first quarter.

Towns raised his final-quarter tally to 20 points when he drained a 30-foot, step-back 3-pointer while double-covered to give the Knicks a 94-90 lead with 5:10 remaining.

The Knicks made 43.6 percent of their shots in the game and were 11 of 32 from behind the arc.

Indiana shot 44.2 percent from the field, including the shaky 5-of-25 from 3-point range. The Pacers were stellar in transition with a 16-2 edge in fast-break points.

But Indiana were outscored 36-20 in the final quarter when they could not slow Towns.

“He made some big plays for them,” Siakam said of Towns. “We couldn’t get stops when we needed them. And offensively, we didn’t have our usual pop. We didn’t have the ball movement that we usually do.”

The Pacers held a 58-45 halftime lead. Indiana ran off 13 consecutive points in the second quarter to land their biggest lead. Haliburton capped the spurt with a 3-pointer and a steal for an easy dunk to make it 55-35 with 3:20 to go in the half.

New York’s 38-point victory against Boston Celtics in Game 6 was the largest win in Knicks playoff history.

Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby each scored 23 points as the New York Knicks reached the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000 by steamrolling the visiting Boston Celtics 119-81 in Game 6 of their second-round series.

Mikal Bridges had 22 points and Karl-Anthony Towns added 21 points and 12 rebounds for third-seeded New York, which led by as many as 41 points on Friday. The Knicks wrapped up the best-of-seven series with the largest winning playoff margin in franchise history.

“There’s more to go,” Bridges said. “We’re not done. We came out there tonight and played hard and handled business. But our season is not over. We have much more to go.”

New York surpassed a 36-point playoff victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in the decisive Game 5 of the 1970 Eastern Division finals.

Josh Hart contributed 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to record New York’s first postseason triple-double since Walt Frazier accomplished the feat in 1972.

“I want to congratulate the Celtics on a terrific season,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Unfortunate injury to Jayson Tatum. They’re a terrific organisation, ownership, front office, Joe Mazzulla is a terrific coach, great players.

“They’re not going to hand you anything. You have to earn it.”

The Knicks will open the conference finals at home against the fourth-seeded Indiana Pacers on Wednesday.

Defending NBA champion Boston was led by Jaylen Brown, who had 20 points, six rebounds and six assists before fouling out late in the third quarter. The Celtics were again short-handed after losing Tatum to a ruptured right Achilles during Game 4 on Monday.

“Upset or not, we beat a great team,” Brunson said. “They obviously lost a huge piece (in Tatum). The way they came out in Game 5, they’re still a good team. Regardless of what anyone thinks – upset or not – we’re just happy to come out of the series with a win and now we’ll prepare for another team.”

New York shot 46.2 percent from the field, including 16 of 45 (35.6 percent) from 3-point range. The Knicks held a 55-36 rebounding advantage.

Payton Pritchard scored 11 points and Al Horford added 10 for Boston, which shot 36 percent and was 12 of 40 (30 percent) from 3-point range.

The score was tied at 16 before the Knicks began pulling away.

New York led 26-20 at the end of the first quarter and then opened the second with a 16-4 surge to open up an 18-point lead midway through the period.

After Boston’s Luke Kornet interrupted the burst with a three-point play, the Knicks rattled off 16 of the next 21 points to take a 58-32 lead on a putback dunk by Miles “Deuce” McBride with 1:31 left.

McBride buried a 3-pointer as time expired in the half for a 64-37 lead at the break. That marked New York’s largest halftime advantage at the break since leading the Los Angeles Lakers 69-42 in Game 7 of the 1970 Finals, won by the Knicks.

“You win a championship and you have that target on your back from Day 1,” Celtics guard Derrick White said of falling well short of winning back-to-back NBA titles. “There’s ups and downs through every season. This part sucks and we didn’t complete the goal that we set out to get.”

The contest was effectively over when Brown fouled out with 2:50 left in the third quarter and Boston down by 33. Anunoby poured it on with consecutive 3-pointers to end a 10-0 push as the margin went above 40 at 92-51 with 1:51 remaining in the third.

“They played better than we did,” Mazzulla said. “I’m happy for Thibs [Thibodeau]. He’s been coaching for a long time. That’s the biggest thing. You pay your dues, you put forth everything. That guy is a lifer. He’s what a coach is all about and he deserves it. And they deserve it as a team. You got to take your hat off to them.”

New York Knicks take a 3-1 series lead after winning Game 4 against the reigning NBA champions Boston Celtics, who lost Jayson Tatum to injury.

Jalen Brunson scored 26 of his 39 points in the second half, and the New York Knicks became the first home team to win in the series by defeating the Boston Celtics 121-113 to take a 3-1 series lead in their Eastern Conference second-round matchup.

Karl-Anthony Towns added 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Mikal Bridges also scored 23 for the Knicks, who recovered from a 14-point third-quarter deficit on Monday night. OG Anunoby made some key plays late while contributing 20 points.

“They hit us early, and obviously we got into a hole,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I love the way we fought back, and we showed a lot of toughness and more discipline in the second half and timely plays. Everybody worked together on both ends of the floor.”

Boston star Jayson Tatum sustained a possible serious right ankle injury late in the contest. Tatum had 42 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals. He knocked down seven 3-pointers for the second-seeded Celtics, who squandered 20-point leads while dropping the first two games in the series.

Tatum was helped off the floor with his right foot kept in the air and was later seen being pushed to the locker room while sitting in a rolling chair.

“I got back there, talked to the medical staff, and they told me it’s a lower-body injury for Jayson Tatum and we’ll get an MRI in the morning,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said.

Derrick White made six 3-pointers and scored 23 points, and Jaylen Brown added 20 points and seven rebounds for Boston. Payton Pritchard added 12 points off the bench.

The Knicks can clinch the best-of-seven series with a win in Game 5 at Boston on Wednesday night.

“It’s not like we planned to be in this situation,” White said. “But we are where we are. We have to find a way to win Game 5.”

Third-quarter explosion lifts Wolves over Warriors

In the other playoff game on Monday, Anthony Edwards poured 11 of his 30 points into a 17-0 third-quarter flurry as the Minnesota Timberwolves moved within one win of a second consecutive berth in the Western Conference finals with a 117-110 road win over the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 in San Francisco.

Julius Randle led the way with 31 points and Jaden McDaniels contributed 10 points and 13 rebounds for the sixth-seeded Timberwolves, who have rallied from a series-opening loss to win three straight from the Stephen Curry-less Warriors.

Minnesota could clinch the best-of-seven series in Game 5 on Wednesday in Minneapolis.

Jonathan Kuminga had a team-high 23 points for seventh-seeded Golden State, which lost Curry to a hamstring injury during its Game 1 win.

The Warriors previously announced that their standout point guard would be re-evaluated before Game 5, with the possibility of Curry returning at that point.

Golden State held a 60-58 halftime lead, and the game was tied 68-all in the fourth minute of the third period before Edwards turned a floater into a three-point play to ignite the decisive run.

Edwards also buried a pair of 3-pointers and a short jumper among his 11 points, while Mike Conley and Donte DiVincenzo drilled shots from deep as part of a burst that lasted more than four minutes.

Edwards finished 6-for-11 on 3-point attempts and Randle 4-for-8, helping the Timberwolves outscore the Warriors 48-24 from beyond the arc. Minnesota shot 16-for-34 (47.1 percent) from beyond the arc, while the Warriors were 8-for-27 (29.6 percent).

“The big third quarter was huge,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “I thought we came out at halftime with the type of focus and intensity and purpose on offence and attention to detail on defence is what we needed from the start. But for the most part, I thought we were lucky to be just down a bucket at halftime.

“[Edwards] was one of the guys that was most vocal at half time and realised what was going on out there and we needed to be better. It started with him, really, and setting the tone.”

Jimmy Butler III took just nine shots and totalled 14 points with a team-high-tying three assists for the Warriors. Draymond Green also had 14 points to go with seven rebounds, while Buddy Hield scored 13 and Brandin Podziemski had 11 to complement four steals.

“[The Timberwolves] played a great game and obviously took it to us, and we’ve got to bounce back,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “We’ve got a flight to Minneapolis tomorrow and a chance to extend the series, and that’s the plan.”

Jalen Brunson scored 39 points as the New York Knicks beat the Boston Celtics 121-113 to leave the reigning NBA champions on the brink of elimination from the play-offs.

The Knicks stormed back from 14 points down in the third quarter to go 3-1 up in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semi-final and are in sight of the finals for the first time since 2000.

The Celtics also lost forward Jayson Tatum, who scored 42 points before being carried off in the fourth quarter with what coach Joe Mazzulla described as a “lower body injury”.

The six-time All Star, who was later seen being taken to the Madison Square Garden locker room in a wheelchair, will have a scan on Tuesday to assess the damage.

“He’ll get the MRI and we’ll see what it is,” said Mazzulla.

“Obviously you’re always concerned about someone’s health. It’s two-fold, we’re concerned about his health and where’s he’s at. And then we’re concerned what we’ve got to do better in game five.”

The Knicks can clinch the series with a win in Boston on Thursday (00:00 BST).

Boston, who won game three on Saturday, started strongly with Tatum and Payton Pritchard leading the charge.

A Derrick White three-pointer gave the Celtics their biggest lead of the night early in the third quarter (72-58) but from then on the Knicks took over, taking an 88-85 lead into the final quarter.

Brunson controlled matters and when OG Anunoby grabbed a steal off Tatum in the incident that left the Celtics star writhing in pain before making a dunk, the Knicks were 118-106 ahead.

“I was just in a flow and doing whatever. I wasn’t really trying to take over. It was just ‘whatever we’ve gotta do’,” Brunson said.

“We didn’t quit, kept fighting. And that’s what’s most important. Whenever you get in a hole you can’t quit.”