Pacers Guard says Indiana Isn't Worried About Jalen Brunson

The Indiana Pacers are ahead in the Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Knicks, with a 2-1 lead through three games.

Indiana could have had a 3-0 lead if they won their game at home against the Knicks, but despite being up big at halftime, the Pacers could not close the game out, and now New York has life once again.

The Knicks managed to beat the Pacers with Jalen Brunson in massive foul trouble for most of the game, leaning on Karl Anthony-Towns, the superstar that the team acquired via trade, and extending their rotation to give other players minutes while the starters get some needed rest.

Jalen Brunson: "It's an emotional game, it's a long game... You can easily obviously crash out or you can respond the right way"

KAT: "Crash out, I love that" 🤣 pic.twitter.com/2REcB4Ef0y
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) May 26, 2025

According to Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard, the team was not focused on the status of Brunson, whether he was on the court or not.

“I don’t think we’re trying to focus too much on just attacking him,” Nembhard told The Athletic's David Aldridge.

“We’re trying to play our game, and wherever he’s at, he’s at.”

Brunson has been the Knicks' best player throughout the playoffs, creating offense regularly and hitting several clutch shots.

During the conference finals, however, he has struggled in the fourth quarter of the games, looking quite tired and unable to get the same amount of separation as usual.

Brunson has played a massive amount of minutes, regularly going past 40 minutes during the playoffs, and the wear and tear has seemingly caught up to him later in games.

Most PPG in the 2024 Playoffs (min 10 GP)
#1 — Jalen Brunson

Most PPG in the 2025 Playoffs (min 10 GP)
#1 — Jalen Brunson pic.twitter.com/44wk3TNbAf
— KnicksMuse (@KnicksMuse) May 26, 2025

The Pacers could be better served by attacking Brunson early on in games, making him play a lot of on-ball defense to get him in foul trouble early.

Indiana runs their offense through the Brunson match-up, forcing him to foul or play less physical defense.

The Pacers have a good enough offense to target any player on defense and likely should have attacked Brunson more often.

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For more news and notes on the Indiana Pacers, visit Indiana Pacers on SI.