125
91
Wednesday, February 20th, 2013 at 7:00 PM at Bankers Life Fieldhouse
Game Rewind: IND 125, NYK 91
By Scott Agness | Updated: February 20, 2013 at 1:20 AM
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Game Recap
Another contending team entered Bankers Life Fieldhouse and left discouraged. The Pacers rose to the occasion and put away the New York Knicks, who are now just a half game ahead in the conference standings. They didn’t just dominate and beat them up; they dismantled the team from the Big Apple, 125-91.
The Pacers used a 9-1 run to take their first double-digit lead, and they were only getting started. There was no let down when the Pacers went to their bench, either. Orlando Johnson came in and quickly tallied eight points; D.J. Augustin made both three-point attempts and all three free-throws for all nine of his points during that eight minute stretch.
As the Pacers’ lead grew to 20 and then 30, frustration mounted for the Knicks. Amar’e Stoudemire was given a technical and then Raymond Felton earned a flagrant foul for throwing his elbow into the back of Jeff Pendergraph in transition. As the first half expired, Lance Stephenson and J.R. Smith were jawing at each other and a double-technical was handed out. Fortunately for the Pacers, Frank Vogel stepped in between.
At the break, the Pacers had 74 points, a season-high for a half, and led by 30.
The only fight the Knicks showed all night on the court was with their trash talking. As Indiana extended their lead to as many as 39 in the third quarter, J.R. Smith lost his temper, again, and was tossed. Later, All-Star Paul George buried a memorable jumper in the face of Stoudemire and ran down the other end of the floor with a grin on his face.
In the fourth, Sam Young finished in transition with a windmill dunk, Gerald Green came in and nailed a three-pointer, and Tyler Hansbrough completed an alley-oop at the rim. It was that kind of night, where everything went smooth for the Pacers. Every Pacers player scored and grabbed a rebound except for Ben Hansbrough in their largest victory of the season.
First Miami, and now New York entered the Fieldhouse this season and exited with two losses. Tonight’s 34-point stomping was a statement win over a playoff team and a heck of a way to return from the All-Star break.
Inside the Numbers
Five Pacers scored in double-figures and 10 scored seven or more points. Paul George led all scorers with 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting. David West finished with 18 points and nine rebounds.
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Knicks center Tyson Chandler totaled 19 points, including a season’s best 11-for-11 at the foul line, and 11 rebounds. Carmelo Anthony was held to 15 points.
The Pacers outscored the Knicks 26-12 in transition.
Fifty-four combined fouls led to 75 total free-throw attempts.
Having hit 42-of-79 field goals (53 percent) tonight, the Pacers improve to 4-1 this season when shooting over 50 percent from the field.
Quoteworthy
“A good way to come out of the break (and) get a big win like that over a really, really good basketball team. We just got to understand it’s one win. The Knicks didn’t have it tonight. Every team in the league has a night like this.” – Frank Vogel
“Coach has been saying all year that if we continue to share the ball and trust each other and trust the pass, we can be a dominant offensive team. It just showed all night that we buckled down on the defensive end and we shared the ball on the offensive end.” – George Hill
“We got under their skin a little bit ... I think we really came out with an edge tonight.” – Paul George
“We didn’t show up; they whipped our a** from beginning to end. It was nothing pretty about tonight’s game. It’s unacceptable.” – Knicks head coach Mike Woodson
“They played like a team tonight. We got our a** whipped. This was a good old fashioned a** whooping ... We are fooling ourselves if we think we’re going to get anywhere playing this kind of defense.” – Knicks center Tyson Chandler
Stat of the Game
Behind the arc, the Pacers went 11-for-24 (46 percent) while the Knicks made just 5-of-28 attempts (18 percent). In the first half alone, the Knicks shot 15 three’s and made only one.
Noteworthy
- The Pacers have taken the last two meetings, both at home – improving to 14-3 at home against East teams.
- Official attendance: 16,123
- Head coach of the top-ranked Indiana Hoosiers, Tom Crean, was on hand for the game.
Up Next
The Pacers host the Detroit Pistons at the Fieldhouse on Friday at 7 PM EST.
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