Karl-Anthony Towns carried the Knicks in Game 3, but the big man buckled in Game 4 and he is listed as questionable with a bruised left knee as New York faces elimination in the Eastern Conference finals.

Towns stayed on his back in obvious pain moments after banging knees with Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith late in the fourth quarter of a 130-121 loss at Indiana in Game 4 on Tuesday night. The center briefly left the game but re-entered and was not in a talking mood postgame, leaving his status up in the air for a possible elimination game in the best-of-seven series.

As for whether Towns is confident he can take the court for Game 5 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night, that question won’t be answered immediately.

“I’m only thinking about this loss, I’m not thinking about that right now,” Towns said postgame about his level of concern with the injury. “It’s disappointing when you don’t get a win. Just didn’t do enough to get the job done (in Game 4).”

Towns, 29, was favoring his left knee in the first half, but head coach Tom Thibodeau took it as a “good sign” that he was able to continue Tuesday night.

With the Knicks trailing 3-1 in the series, Towns has done his part to keep New York in it.

He’s averaging 25.8 points and 11.5 rebounds, including a memorable effort with 24 points and 15 rebounds in Game 3. Towns scored 20 points in the final quarter of that contest.

Nesmith is listed as questionable for the Pacers with a sprained right ankle. He injured the ankle in Game 3 and was cleared to play Tuesday just more than an hour before tipoff.

–Field Level Media