INDIANAPOLIS — Two-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton blamed himself for the Pacers’ second-half collapse in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Coach Rick Carlisle figured Haliburton’s teammates played their part, too.

Less than 24 hours after blowing a 16-point lead in the final 20 minutes Sunday night and allowing the Knicks to cut their series deficit to 2-1, the Pacers went back to work Monday in search of solutions. Game 4 will be Tuesday night in Indianapolis.

“I felt like we got kind of stagnant on that end,” Haliburton said minutes after the 106-100 loss. “I thought we just didn’t do a good job of continuing to play fast. I felt like I did a poor job of keeping pace in the game, especially in the fourth quarter. I feel like I was walking the ball up every play, so I know it’s got to be a big area of improvement for me.”

Clearly, it wasn’t just Haliburton — or his teammates — struggling to seal a victory that would have put the Pacers within one win of reaching the franchise’s second NBA Finals.

An increasingly aggressive Karl-Anthony Towns scored 20 of his team’s 36 points in the fourth quarter and an increasingly shifty defense slowed down the Pacers just enough to hold them to a playoff-low 42 points in the second half. Carlisle credited the Knicks’ defense for making the right adjustments.

And just like that, the Knicks managed to avoid the dreaded 3-0 hole that no team has recovered from and climb back into the series, giving themselves a chance at evening the series Tuesday.

Strangely, the road team has won each of the first games and the Knicks have won six of seven on the road this postseason, their only loss coming in Boston as the 2024 champion Celtics briefly delayed a second-round exit by winning Game 5.

“I think we have to continue to fly around (defensively),” Knicks All-Star guard Jalen Brunson said Monday.

“Obviously, we don’t want to have breakdowns and when we do, we’ve got to continue to slide and help each other out, giving my team more opportunities to shoot the ball and score the ball instead of turning the ball over I think will be a big key for us.”

Coach Tom Thibodeau’s chess moves could be crucial, too. After benching Josh Hart in favor of starting Mitchell Robinson in Game 3, Hart and Towns played key roles in the late rally as Brunson was stuck in foul trouble.

But Towns and Hart appeared to suffer knee injuries Sunday. Thibodeau remains hopeful both will be available — and play well — Tuesday night.

“They are tough-minded and I think at this time of year, the mental toughness is probably more important than the physical toughness and both of those guys are mentally tough,” Thibodeau said of Towns and Hart.

But the Pacers have been here before.

Just two weeks ago after winning the first two conference semifinal games in Cleveland, they lost to the desperate Cavaliers at home before Haliburton and the Pacers rebounded with a shooting clinic and beat the East’s top seed in Game 4.

They went on to close out the series the next game on the road.