The Knicks were defeated by the Indiana Pacers 132-121 in a back-and-forth affair on Sunday evening.
Here are some takeaways…
– Coming off their blowout win over Milwaukee, the Knicks got off to a flying start as they knocked down six of their first nine buckets and shot an impressive 52 percent from the field in the opening quarter. OG Anunoby was having his way, leading the team with seven points, but Knick-killer Bennedict Mathurin drilled three threes to help Indiana carry an early advantage.
– Miles McBride provided a nice spark off the bench despite coming into the night listed as questionable due to an illness, but it continued to be the Anunoby show in the second quarter. The defensive-minded forward had his scoring shoes on as he finished the first half with a whopping 19 points while shooting 7-of-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point land.
Jalen Brunson (15 points) and Karl-Anthony Towns (11 points) got going as well to help push the lead up to as many as seven points, but Mathurin’s scorching start (21 points) and a hot finish from Tyrese Haliburton (14 points, six assists) helped keep Indiana within one possession heading into halftime.
– With Towns leading the charge, the Knicks came flying out of the break, knocking down six of their first ten shots of the quarter to push the lead up to double-digits. But as was the case all night Indiana responded right back, as Mathurin’s bucket plus the foul cut into the deficit, then back-to-back threes from Jarace Walker put them in front.
A quick timeout helped rejuvenate the Knicks and they finished the quarter strong to cary a slim two-point advantage heading into the games final frame.
– But as has been the case throughout the beginning of this season, New York had a hard time closing things out, and the Pacers took things over down the stretch. Haliburton hit some clutch buckets and Myles Turner drilled back-to-back threes with just under five minutes remaining to give Indiana their largest lead of the game.
Brunson bounced back nicely from his quiet night in the scoring department, producing 33 points. Towns finished with 30 points of his own, but he saw his double-double streak snapped as he reeled in just nine rebounds. Anunoby’s strong night saw him produce a season-high 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field.
Indiana scored 40 points in the fourth quarter led by Haliburton who put together a 35 point, 14 assist double-double. Turner contributed 26 points of his own and Mathurin’s red=hot shoting helped him finish with a season-high 38 points including seven three-pointers.
Game MVP(s): Mathurin & Haliburton
Mathurin helped keep the Pacers in the game during the early going and then Haliburton took over to close things out during their monster fourth quarter showing.
Highlights
What’s next
The Knicks open Group Play of this year’s NBA Cup with a road matchup against the shorthanded Philadelphia 76ers (1-7) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.