NEW YORK — In a win-or-go-home scenario at Madison Square Garden, Knicks star point guard Jalen Brunson outplayed Pacers star point guard Tyrese Haliburton to stave off elimination and avoid an embarrassing five-game series loss. It's as simple as that.

Jalen Brunson scored 14 of his 32 points in the opening quarter, as the Knicks finally got the start they wanted and rolled to a wire-to-wire 111-94 victory in Game 5.

The star guard came through in the face of mounting criticism, and New York fought off elimination with a 111-94 win over Indiana in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.