They did it again! Of course they did it again. As bad as Sunday looked for the Knicks, it should come as no surprise that they found a way to win. And they didn’t just win game five, they did so in convincing fashion, blowing Indiana out 121-91. The Knicks iron man and new found role players were fabulous from the outset, buoyed by a raucous capacity crowd at “The Worlds Most Famous Arena.”

While DiVincenzo had a quieter night offensively, the other two members of the Nova trio were terrific again. Josh Hart played 39 minutes (low for him) and put up 18 points, 11 rebounds and three assists in the win. Hart was only outdone by yet another brilliant performance by Jalen Brunson. Number 11 in Orange and blue put up 44 points, four rebounds and seven assists. This was Brunson’s fifth game this postseason with 40 plus points, making him only the 11th player in NBA history to accomplish that feat. Nine of the eleven are Hall of Fame players and the tenth man on the list is Lebron. Elite company for Brunson to say the least.

The supporting cast, which has evolved as the playoffs have progressed, was now anchored by three excellent performances. The first of which came from Isaiah Hartenstein who had 17 rebounds on the night, 12 of which came on offensive end of the floor. Meanwhile Deuce McBride put up 17 points, having taken full advantage of getting the start last night. The third and final of these clutch outings came from veteran guard Alec Burks. Burks is doing his best El Duque impression right now, as after having gone missing in the regular season, Burks has been great in this series! Something all of us Yankees fans are familiar with from the great Cuban righty.

Burks even got involved in a scrum as the Pacers seemed intent on ratcheting up the physicality. Burks earned praise from his coach and teammates postgame and rightfully so, he remains a true pro.

Before we wrap up we need to address the matter of how much Tom Thibodeau is riding his guys. I actually don’t have to say much here because the great Stan Van Gundy took of that for us. The majority of the Knicks injuries cannot be rightfully pinned on how Thibs uses his players, no matter what the media says. Furthermore I feel the endurance he and his team built up in the regular season has given the Knicks the ability to finish games better than their fellow playoff peers. The fact that he continues to get attack is silly, and his former colleague Stan Van Gundy went to bat for the Knicks coach.

Of course this win doesn’t end anything. Knicks fans can celebrate but the big party will have to wait. All this win did was stave off the prospect of elimination in game six. It was fun to watch the team give it their all after the Rangers ugly loss Monday. All this does is ensure there will be one more special night at MSG…right now I think we have we would all sign up for that! One team, one fan base, one city all in it together to keep this joyous spring going.

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