Game Rewind: Pacers 81, Knicks 87

The Indiana Pacers were in control for much of Tuesday night's contest against the New York Knicks but couldn't hold on and were defeated 87-81 in Madison Square Garden.

Indiana dominated the majority of the first half and took a 10-point lead into the locker room. But the offense struggled the rest of the way, as the Pacers scored just 29 points and made 22 percent of its shots in the second half.

"There is no excuse for that execution or lack of execution in our second half, and (we did) not play the game the right way," Pacers head coach Nate McMillan said.

Indiana had a 13-point lead with nine minutes left in the third quarter, but after that the wheels fell off. The Knicks answered with six straight to get within seven with 6:25 to go in the third, and over the rest of the quarter, Indiana would score just five points, opening the door for the home team.

A Carmelo Anthony triple at the 0:52 mark cut the Pacers' lead to two, 64-62, and that would be the score heading into the final period.

The Knicks got off to a fast start in the fourth. After Rodney Stuckey made one of two at the free-throw line, New York drained back-to-back 3-pointers to retake the lead, 68-65, with 9:38 to play.

Later in the quarter, the Knicks began to pull away. Up 74-70 with a little more than four minutes left, Anthony buried a 3-pointer to put New York up seven.

The deficit was just five with 2:45 to play, but five straight points from the Knicks made the score 84-74 with just 1:45 remaining. The Pacers scored five straight to get within five with a minute left, but it was too little, too late.

The 81 points scored were a season-low for Indiana.

"We got out of our comfort (zone)," Pacers forward Paul George added. "We have to play a lot more consistently."

The Pacers looked fine in the early going, and behind 11 combined early first quarter points from Myles Turner and Jeff Teague, Indiana jumped out to a 15-10 lead with 3:23 left to play in the period.

Indiana led by as many as seven in the first and took a six-point advantage, 24-18, into the second quarter.

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The second unit grew Indiana's lead to nine, 35-26, with 8:23 left in the half. With 5:47 to go, the Pacers still held a nine-point advantage, 44-35, after a Turner slam.

The Pacers capped off a solid half with a C.J. Miles 3-pointer that put Indiana up 52-40 with under a minute to play. The Knicks answered with a score of their own to trail by 10 going into the locker room.

But the 29 points the rest of the way weren't enough to leave the Big Apple with a victory.

"When you don't play the right way, you look like that," McMillan said.

Paul George (22 points, 10 rebounds) and Turner (17 points, 12 rebounds) both finished with double-doubles for Indiana.

For New York, Carmelo Anthony also finished with a double-double (22 points, 13 rebounds), scoring 17 of his 22 in the second half. Willy Hernangomez was big off the bench, ending with 13 points and 16 rebounds.

Carmelo Anthony's 13 rebounds were tied for the most he's grabbed in a game this season.

After tonight, since the All-Star Break, the Pacers have held eight of their ten opponents to 100 or fewer points.

Paul George accumulated double-digit rebounds for the third game in a row and fourth time in five contests.

The Pacers scored a season-low 81 points. Indiana put up just 29 points on 22 percent shooting in the second half.

"We had a shot at winning this game. We should have won this game. When you don't play the right way, you are not connected, you are not going to win ball games." - Pacers head coach Nate McMillan

"Everybody is playing 66, 67 games. It is no different. We have to play consistent and do what works for us." - Pacers forward Paul George

"That energy and effort and fight we have to play with night in and night out. Those are effort plays we need to make." - Knicks guard Courtney Lee

The Pacers return to Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Wednesday night for a meeting with Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Hornets. Tip off is set for 7:00 PM. Find Tickets »