Key No. 3: The Pacers need to win the rebound battle and continue to feed off their home crowd
Even though they only outrebounded the Knicks by one rebound, the Pacers were able to capitalize as 13 of their 42 rebounds were on the offensive end. A couple of those offensive boards resulted in huge second-chance points. The offensive rebounding displayed by the Pacers in the final minutes of the game is which secured the victory.
The importance of those few extra possessions was critical because it helped the Pacers take valuable time off the clock before Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard made the go-ahead basket that put the Pacers up by 3 with 16.4 left in regulation.
The Pacers will also be able to continue to feed off of the energy of their home crowd and use the playoff atmosphere to try and overwhelm the Knicks similar to way they did during that final possession of Game 3. After being outscored 32-22 in the 3rd quarter and entering the 4th quarter with a 5-point deficit, Haliburton was asked after the game how he and his teammates bounced back after a rough start to the second half.
This series appears that it's going to be a dogfight until the end, and if the Pacers can win another game at home, we could be in store for a classic 7-game series between these two arch-rivals.