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INDIANAPOLIS — About a year prior, Jalen Brunson nailed a stepback, game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds against the Pacers.
On Friday night inside the same Gainbridge Fieldhouse, a nearly identical situation presented itself, but coach Mike Brown instead called on Karl-Anthony Towns. Captain Clutch was a decoy on the other side of the court. The result was a fadeaway miss off the rim from KAT, a 106-104 Knicks defeat and probable end to New York’s NBA Cup defense.
“I thought it was a great shot. I was excited for the opportunity,” Towns told The Post. “I got to make a quick decision. It’s either OG is open on the rip screen and he has an open layup or I get to take the shot. I just was ready for the opportunity. … I’m happy with the follow through. I was happy with the technique. It just wasn’t my day.”
The Knicks launched an improbable comeback to reach that dramatic conclusion, recovering from an eight-point deficit in the final 90 seconds because Indiana kept coughing up possessions.
With 2.8 seconds remaining, the Pacers threw away an inbounds pass — largely because of Mikal Bridges’ hounding defense — which set up KAT’s opportunity.
“We needed a 2-pointer. We had executed something like that in practice,” Brown said. “We thought we would gain an advantage with a little rip screen. KAT got a great look. Probably a shot that he makes nine out of 10 times. So I’m okay with it.
“Karl-Anthony Towns’ big chance bounced off the rim.”
Technically, the Knicks aren’t eliminated from the NBA Cup with an 0-2 record. It’s still theoretically possible to win the group or a wild-card spot with a 2-2 record. But in the NBA Cup’s three-year history, no team has advanced with anything less than a 3-1 mark in the group phase.
The Knicks are the lone squad in their five-team group without a win.
There’s still much more time to defend their bigger championship, but the Knicks (6-6) hardly have looked like the juggernaut of their magical run of May and June.
They missed 30 3-pointers and gave up 17 offensive rebounds in Indiana, the place of several Knicks heartbreaks over the past few years.
Brunson dropped 33 points with 11 assists — including a powerful third-quarter burst after being motivated by taunts from Pacers defender Quenton Jackson — but Captain Clutch went cold in the fourth quarter and wasn’t involved in the final play.
Towns finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds, breaking a 56-year franchise record with his 12th double-double to start a season. He eclipsed Willis Reed’s mark from 1970 and then came up just a little short with an opportunity to extend New York’s NBA Cup hopes.
“That play was something we liked, and we went to it. But I’ll say this: That play did not cost us the game,” Brown said. “We were lucky a little bit, and our guys did fight to give us a chance down the stretch. But I don’t care who you play, it’s going to be hard to win a game on the road when you lose the possession game like we did, if we get blown by on defense as bad as we did, if you let your opponent win the physicality battle like we did. It’s all a recipe for a loss. And that’s where I’m disappointed.”
