INDIANAPOLIS — The Pacers were in an enviable position.
They were at home and they were up big.
That, however, is the Knicks wheelhouse this postseason.
No team has performed better in such dire situations, a trend that somehow continued Sunday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, as the Knicks sliced their best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals series deficit in half, to 2-1.
They have been road warriors, winning six of seven games in the playoffs away from the Garden.
Three times, they have rallied from 20 points down — the first team to do that in one postseason in the play-by-play era, which dates back to 1997.
In all six of their road victories, they have trailed in the fourth quarter.
“Home gives distractions and sometimes a lot of love — too much — and sometimes you’ve gotta go out there and feel like it’s you vs. everybody,” Mikal Bridges said. “And that’s what the road brings to you.”
The Knicks have thrived when being jeered.
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They have excelled against boos.
They have been at their best when so many other teams have come up small in those adverse situations.
In this postseason, road teams are 25-47, and 19-46 if you subtract the Knicks’ gaudy record.
Their six road wins equal a franchise record for a single postseason, set by the 1998-99 team.
It’s been a bizarre postseason for coach Tom Thibodeau’s team, the home/road splits difficult to understand.
The Knicks have lost five of their eight games at the Garden, and played from ahead really in only one of them — the Game 6 clincher against the Celtics in the previous round.
They have a significantly better defensive rating on the road (110.1) compared to home (114.6).
They have been crisper.
They have been tougher.
They have been far better.
“The whole year we played well on the road,” Josh Hart said.
But not to this extreme, against this level of opponent with so much riding on each game.
It’s going to have to continue for the Knicks to get through the Pacers.
They will need to win at least one more game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where they had never won a postseason game prior to Sunday night.
They had been 0-9 in the building in the playoffs.
That changed in Game 3, when the Knicks dug another 20-point hole, then snatched back momentum with a stunning second half.
That included limiting the Pacers to 42 points and 36.8 percent shooting over the final 24 minutes.
What’s happening on and off the Garden court
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“I think it’s getting better and better each game,” OG Anunoby said, referring to the Knicks defense. “The Pacers, they play very fast, so sometimes it gets hard when a lot of things are going on, but the communication has picked up.”
It’s hard to believe that these were the same Knicks who had their toughness questioned entering the playoffs, who had fans pining for last year’s group so often during the season.
They have been the epitome of resilient in each round, at their very best when their backs are against the wall.
“It’s competition, it’s the playoffs,” Brunson said. “And in order to go through and do something special, you have to go through a lot of adversity, a lot of questioning mentally and internally if we’re going to do this.
“So it can make or break teams when you’re going through things like that. And I think obviously what we did [Sunday] night definitely helps us. We saw we were on the brink of it looking pretty dark for us. And the way we responded I think it brings us closer together.”