NEW YORK — The New York Knicks are trying to become the 14th NBA team to overcome a 3-1 playoff series deficit and the first to win a conference finals series after dropping the first two games at home.
But they have struggled to defend Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers, and could be without one of their most important players. All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns is listed as questionable because of a bruised left knee he sustained in a collision late in Indiana’s 130-121 victory in Game 4 on Tuesday.
If the Knicks win, Game 6 would be Saturday in Indiana.
As for the do-or-die Game 5 at the Garden, the Knicks have one big advantage: the home crowd, with the Knicks faithful back in the team’s corner.
“I have confidence you know,” one fan said. “We do Knicks things and this will be amazing. I think together, we’ll be a team, and when we’re a team, nobody can beat us.”
Knicks fans are bringing their best, but there’s one in particular who is wearing his best.
Alex Ruffin, from Connecticut, is the designer behind a unique jacket that screams New York sports. The jacket has the Knicks on one sleeve, and the Rangers on the other.
Artist Alex Ruffin shares a jacket he made which celebrates the Knicks and Rangers.
It all went to another level when Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the New York Yankees was captured on the jumbotron at MSG, wearing a specially-made version, part of Ruffin’s “Hometown Hero” series.
“I’m sitting over here, and I’m like, watching his story,” Ruffin said. “So, I see him on his way to the game and with the jacket because I can tell by the collar, and I’m like, oh my god, he has my jacket on.”
From there, sky was the limit. There would be nobody bigger than the Knicks’ star guard, Jalen Brunson himself, who sported Ruffin’s “Madison Square Guardian” jacket, that marries two iconic New York sports emblems.
It’s that type of spirit that Knicks forward Josh Hart hopes will propel the team into uncharted territory for the franchise.
“I’ve never known this team to quit,” forward Josh Hart said. “That’s not the character of the guys that we have in the locker room. So obviously our backs are against the wall, but we’re competitors and we’re going to bring it until the series is over.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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