Toppin’s overtime dunks help Pacers take 1-0 lead in Eastern Conference finals

The Pacers erased a 14-point deficit in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter, forcing overtime on a game-tying buzzer-beater by Tyrese Haliburton.

“I feel like we’re super resilient,” Toppin told reporters after the game. “With us, you’ve got to play until the last buzzer goes off, and I feel like everybody on this team is going to work 110% every single game until that last buzzer. I feel like that’s what happened. I feel like they slowed down a little bit, and we just kept it going.”

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Toppin set a playoff career high with 10 rebounds. He fell two points short of his first postseason double-double.

In 11 playoff games this year, Toppin is averaging 8.5 points and 3.2 rebounds in 16.4 minutes per game.

Toppin missed a wide-open dunk earlier in the game but finished two memorable slams in overtime.

• With 54 seconds to play, Toppin’s putback dunk after a missed 3 by Haliburton gave the Pacers a 134-33 lead.

“Just being in the right place at the right time,” Toppin said. “We know if we win the rebounding battle against the Knicks, we’ll be in a good position to win. So I just try to crash and grab every rebound.”

• With 15 seconds remaining, Toppin’s double-clutch dunk gave the Pacers a 138-135 lead. It was the last basket of the game for either team.

“I think we should have fouled,” Knicks guard Jalen Brunson said. “We just didn’t.”