Last year, the Pacers handed the Knicks their biggest loss at Madison Square Garden. This time it was for a different reason, but the Knicks’ biggest loss of the year at MSG so far has once again come to the Pacers.
So much has changed since the last time these two teams met in this arena.
Without Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers — who have essentially taken a gap year since opening night — now own the worst record in the East.
After eliminating the Knicks in the playoffs two years in a row, they won’t be a threat this postseason.
The Knicks, meanwhile, enter having won nine of their last 10 games.
But some things never change.
The Pacers, despite a nightmare season, still own the Knicks, who fell 137-134 in overtime Tuesday night in the penultimate game before the All-Star break.
However, the Pacers gave the Knicks a second chance.
Three up with 6.2 seconds left, they intentionally fouled Mikal Bridges.
He made both before fouling Pascal Siakam at the other end with 5.2 seconds left. Siakam made just one-and-two, meaning the Knicks were only two down.
Landry Shamet missed his 3-pointer at the end, but Karl-Anthony Towns was fouled by Aaron Nesmith as he went for the rebound.
And Towns calmly made both free throws, sending the game into overtime.
However, the Pacers scored the first nine points of overtime.
On cue, after the fans had already started to leave, the Knicks went on a 10-2 run, capped by a three-pointer from Jalen Brunson, to cut the deficit to one point with 5.1 seconds left. But it wasn’t enough.
Quenton Jackson hit both free throws, the Pacers at the other end intentionally fouled Shamet, who missed both free throws, and an embarrassing Knicks loss was complete.
If there’s one thing these two teams are good at, it’s creating chaos. There were 39 lead changes – the most in any NBA game this year.
Every time you blinked, another Pacers shooter had a wide-open three-pointer.
The dominant Knicks defense that had fueled their resurgence disappeared completely, allowing the Pacers to shoot 51.5 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from three-point range.
A trio of Knicks villains – Aaron Nesmith, Aaron Nembhard and Siakam did most of the damage late in the game. It didn’t help that Brunson, the NBA’s reigning Clutch Player of the Year, was uncharacteristically absent at a critical time.
Aaron Nesmith scored on consecutive possessions to give the Pacers a three-point lead with just over three minutes remaining.
After a bucket by Bridges, Nemhard made a layup to restore the three-point lead.
Two possessions later, it was Siakam who scored and scored.
Then, with the Pacers up by just one, Siakam hit a fadeaway over Josh Hart, putting the Pacers ahead by three with 12.7 seconds left.
Brunson had two chances to put the Knicks ahead, both with a 120-121 deficit. He missed a 3-pointer with 1:02 left and missed a midrange jumper with 33.7 seconds left.
Then, with 10.8 seconds left, he missed another three-pointer that would have tied the game.
Towns picked up his third offensive foul – and fifth total foul – as he hooked Jay Huff with 9:06 left in regulation, and was immediately fouled out for Ariel Hukporti.
He sat on the couch until 3:07 am. Then, with 2:14 left in overtime, he fouled after being called for an illegal screen, his fourth offensive foul of the game.
With Shamet as the starter for an injured OG Anunoby, and without Miles McBride or Mitchell Robinson, the Knicks bench was thin and outscored by the Pacers bench by 25 points.
Tuesday marked the first meeting between these two teams at MSG since Game 5 of last year’s Eastern Conference finals.
They tied the game earlier this season, when the Knicks escaped with a one-point win at Indiana.
Two matchups, two scorelines that don’t come close to where the two teams sit in the standings. As bad as they are, the Pacers still have the Knicks’ number.
#Knicks #suffer #biggest #home #loss #season #brutal #overtime #loss #pitiful #Pacers