INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Bennedict Mathurin scored a career-high 38 points, including a career-best seven 3-pointers, and added 35 points and 14 assists to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 132-121 victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday.
Myles Turner finished with 26 points for the Pacers, who drained a season-high 21 3-pointers and outscored New York 63-21 from beyond the arc. Indiana went 8 of 13 on 3s in the fourth quarter, while the Knicks suffered through a 7 of 25 effort for the game.
Jalen Brunson had 33 points, 10 assists and six rebounds for the Knicks while Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 30 points and nine boards. New York led 61-58 at halftime and 94-92 entering the fourth quarter.
Takeaways
Knicks: The Pacers’ 3-point barrage was enough to make the Knicks forget about the 25-point pounding they put on Indiana in the teams’ first meeting of the season.
Pacers: Just before the start of the game, the Pacers announced they will be without their starting wings for an extended period. Aaron Nesmith has a sprained left ankle and isn’t slated to return until December. Andrew Nembhard will miss at least two weeks because of soreness in his left knee.
Key moment
Things were still going fairly well for the Knicks near the midpoint of the fourth quarter when Towns drove through two defenders and completed a three-point play to cut New York’s deficit to two points with 7:11 left. But Indiana scored on its next four possessions, to take a 114-107 lead with 4:52 remaining.
Key stat
Perhaps just as critical as Indiana’s 3-point attack was the Knicks’ inability to force turnovers. Despite playing at a fast pace, the Pacers took care of the ball and had 10 turnovers for the game.
Up next
The Pacers visit Orlando on Wednesday. The Knicks play at Philadelphia on Tuesday.
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Chris Goff, The Associated Press