Game Rewind: Pacers 141, Knicks 136

Sunday, April 9 at 1:00 PM ET at Madison Square Garden

Another exciting season of Indiana Pacers basketball has come to a close.

The Blue & Gold’s 2022-2023 campaign ended with a 141-136 win over the New York Knicks on Easter Sunday at Madison Square Garden.

Indiana finished with a record of 35-47 – improving by 10 wins from last year and the most victories since the 2019-2020 season (45-28).

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said the message after the game was one of thanks to everyone on the team.

"It was a heartfelt thank you on behalf of our staff, our support staff, for an amazing year of high integrity, high-class people who really pulled for each other the entire year and really care about each other. Who, I think, really want to build something special here."

Both teams missed key players despite the big offensive numbers.

The Pacers were without Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner, T.J. McConnell, Chris Duarte and Jalen Smith and Knicks duo of Jalen Brunson and Julius Randall also did not play.

The final result did not impact postseason chances and seeding for either team. The Knicks (47-35)  are locked into the No. 5 spot in the Eastern Conference and will face the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs while the Pacers won’t make the playoffs for a third straight season.

Indiana trailed by seven points going into the fourth quarter before outscoring New York 41-29 in the final frame.

Seven Pacers finished in double-digit scoring, led by 26 points from rookie Bennedict Mathurin, 19 points by Jordan Nwora and rookie Andrew Nembhard each, and 17 points by George Hill. Hill made five 3-pointers in the game, including three in the fourth quarter.

For the Knicks, Obi Toppin scored a game-high 34 points, Immanuel Quickley recorded 30 and Quentin Grimes added 22.

In the first half, the Pacers led 73-71 despite getting outshot 55.8 to 52.3 percent from the field.

Mathurin was sensational in the opening 24 minutes, scoring 19 points by shooting 5-for-5 (2-for-2 3-point range) from the field and 7-for-7 from the free throw line to go along with three assists and two rebounds.

Both teams shot 66.7 percent in the first quarter, but it was the Knicks that held the edge at 45-41.

In the first frame, Mathurin made all four of his field goal attempts, including two 3-pointers, for 13 points. Alternatively, Toppin dropped 15 points in the first quarter for the Knicks and Grimes scored 10 points.

The teams traded jabs after the tip until the Knicks went on a 14-4 run, thanks to seven points by point guard Grimes, to lead 28-18 with 5:31 left in the first quarter. A 7-0 Pacers run, capped by a 3-pointer from Gabe York, then cut it to 41-36 before a half-court, buzzer-beating bank shot by Hill made it a four-point game.

The Knicks swelled the lead to 57-45 by opening the second quarter on a 10-4 run, on six points by RJ Barrett and four from Josh Hart, but the Pacers responded with a 9-0 scoring spree themselves to narrow it to 57-54 with 7:41 left in the half.

In the final 2:39 of the half, the teams tied four times before a basket from Aaron Nesmith with 46 ticks left gave the Pacers a two-point lead.

New York opened the third quarter on a 13-3 run – thanks to seven points by Toppin and five points by Barrett – to lead 84-76. The Pacers got no closer than six points the remainder of the frame, and from 7:45 to 4:25, the Knicks outscored the Pacers 15-3 on three made 3-pointers.

Going into the final 12 minutes, the Pacers trailed 107-100.

In the fourth quarter, Hill made a trio of threes to put the Pacers back ahead.

A 10-0 Pacers scoring spree early in the fourth quarter, on two 3-pointers by Hill, gave the Pacers a 117-112 advantage before a third three by Hill made it 127-117 with 5:20 remaining.

While the Knicks were able to cut it to 132-128 with 2:35 left, by scoring nine unanswered points, the Pacers were able to hang on down the final stretch.

Overall, the Pacers shot 51.7 percent while the Knicks shot 48.6 percent.

In a season focused on rebuilding, the Pacers made big strides.

Indiana had a top-10 offense all year, ranked among the fastest-paced teams in the league, and had the highest scoring bench in the NBA. The Pacers had more 10-point or more comeback wins than any other team this season, completing 17 come-from-behind victories from double digits.

As a team, the Pacers set a new franchise season record for 3-pointers made (1,112) and total points (9,535) in a season.

Individually, two franchise cornerstones both had career years.

Haliburton, 23, was named an All-Star for the first time and led the league for most of the season in assists before injuries sidelined him during the final stretch of games.

This season, in 56 games played, Haliburton averaged 20.7 points, 10.4 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game. He’s the first player in Pacers history to finish with at least 20 points and 10 assists in a season and no player to wear the Blue & Gold has ever had a higher assists average in a season.

Turner, 27, who signed an extension in January, also had a phenomenal year, finishing with career-highs in points (18.0), field goal percentage (.548) and rebounds (7.5) while also moving into second all-time in Pacers history for blocks this season. Turner also broke Reggie Miller’s franchise single-season true shooting percentage record by finishing at .651.

Going into the season, the Pacers had high hopes for their rookie class – and their first two picks delivered.

Mathurin, the No. 6 pick in the 2022 draft from Arizona, had an outstanding rookie campaign averaging 16.7 points on 43.4 percent shooting, 4.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. He finished with the Pacers rookie records in 3-pointers made (100), free throws made (376) and free throw attempts (454) and third in total points. He scored 20 or more points 27 times this season.

Nembhard, the 31st pick from Gonzaga, also was among the best rookies in the league. Among Pacers rookies all-time, Nembhard finishes second in assists (341) and third (92) in 3-pointers made. Overall, Nembhard averaged 9.5 points on 44.1 percent shooting, 4.5 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game.

When the season concludes for all teams on Sunday, Mathurin and Nembhard will rank among the top in this year’s rookie class for several statistical categories.

Buddy Hield, in his second season after being traded to the Pacers  who led the league for most of the season with 3-pointers made, set a new franchise record this season for threes made (288) and played in a team-high 80 games.

Aaron Nesmith, Jordan Nwora, Isaiah Jackson, and Jalen Smith all also saw increased playing time and had several big opportunities for starters minutes, with each of them posting career-bests on several nights.

This summer, the Pacers have three first round draft picks.

Mathurin’s 12 made free throws are the second-most by a Pacers rookie in a game in franchise history. The record is held by Clark Kellog, who went 15-for-15 in a game in 1983.

The Pacers were 30-for-38 from the free throw line and the Knicks were 17-for-22.

Indiana eclipsed 140 points for just a second time this season in the win. The season-high was 143 points against the Philadelphia 76ers on April 9.

New York outscored Indiana 74-44 in the paint.

Both teams gave up 15 turnovers.

Mitchell Robinson had 10 more rebounds than points for the Knicks,  finishing with nine points and 19 boards (13 offensive).

Quickley and Toppin scored at least 30 points in back-to-back games against the Pacers.

"We have been resilient all year long. The fact that we gave up a huge first quarter defensively, it motivated us to pick it up in the final three quarters. We did a lot of good things and shot the ball well." -- Carlisle on the win over New York

"We've got to get our defense better. Our guys have got to take the challenge this summer to do a lot of the prep for next year based on the fact we have to become better individual defenders and better team defenders. That's a big thing on the list of priorities for next year. Like everything else, it will be upon us quickly." -- Carlisle on offseason focuses

"It's a fun group to be around. I think this summer is going to big for everybody. There is a lot of room to improve in all aspects. I can't wait for it." -- Nwora on the team

"I think there's a lot of room where I can grow. I think, being here, with the focus of improving young guys I think I can take a huge leap into my game into next year." -- Nwora on postseason focuses

Hill scored a season-high 17 points, and finished just one 3-pointer short of tying his personal best of six made threes in a single game.

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