Fast Start Spoiled in Indy

By | 2016-10-28T18:02:46-08:00 January 30th, 2015|News|Comments Off on Fast Start Spoiled in Indy

For the first quarter of play, Derek Fisher’s New York Knicks were playing great basketball and looked poised to win for the fifth time in their last six outings.

But on the second night of a back-to-back, Fish’s boys just didn’t have enough to contend with the physical Pacers frontcourt over the final three frames, and they fell 103-82 on the road.

“We couldn’t sustain the energy and effort to compete tonight,’’ Derek said. “They’re a big team up front. Their size wore us down. They had more juice than us tonight, and they were the better team. We got off to a great start, but we couldn’t keep it up.”

New York Knicks v Indiana Pacers

When the Knicks took the floor Thursday night, they had no trouble sticking it to the Pacers early on, thanks to a solid 12 points in the first nine minutes from Carmelo Anthony. Unfortunately for New York, Melo only stayed in the game for 13 more minutes, and according to Fish, the team couldn’t muster much else after the first quarter.

A trifecta by Melo off an assist from rookie Langston Galloway gave New York its largest lead of the night at 11 points. N.Y. carried a seven-point advantage into the second quarter, but momentum took a turn for the worse after Indiana guard C.J. Watson stole a bad pass from Lou Amundson, and dropped in a reverse layup to take a 39-38 lead, Indiana’s first of the game.

Moments later, Roy Hibbert made the highlight reels when he took a missed floater, and slammed it back in while practically dragging the rim to the floor on his way down.
During the second 12 minutes, Indy’s size started taking its toll. The Pacers held a 49-33 rebounding advantage, an issue Fish addressed after the game.

“In the second quarter, where the game turned, we couldn’t get the separation that we had initially,” Fish explained. “We couldn’t keep it because of the second-chance points and rebounds. Some of that was their size, and some of it was us not coming back in to get rebounds. They’re a big team, we don’t have a lot of size up front, and that was a problem area.”

New York Knicks v Indiana Pacers

That dynamic only continued in the second half. By the end of the third, the Pacers went on to lead by as many as 30, making the lead insurmountable for a Knicks team that shot only 31 percent beyond the arc.

After coming in with high spirits, many of the Knicks players left the court frustrated. In the midst of the blowout, D-Fish provided a big moment when he pulled out young guards Shane Larkin and Tim Hardaway Jr. to coach up his frustrated players.

“I was trying to help those guys understand, even if the score is out of hand, these are opportunities to develop leadership skills,’’ Fisher said. “They’re the guards with the ball in their hands so they control the team. Show some maturity out there and don’t go through the motions.’’

Hardaway led the Knicks bench with 11 points, while Anthony and Amundson paced the squad with 18 and 17 respectively.

NEXT UP

Derek and the Knicks (9-38) will travel back home for a couple days rest before they try to find their 10th victory against the Kobe Bryant-less Los Angeles Lakers (13-34).

This will be the first of two meetings between Fish and his former team this season. Derek will make his return to the Staples Center in March.

The Lakers will be riding high into meeting No. 1 after posting a massive 123-118 overtime victory over the Chicago Bulls Thursday night. The win snapped a nine-game losing streak for L.A.

Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.

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