Wednesday night, the Indiana Pacers came to town desperate for a win, trying to claw their way to one of the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, and matched up against Derek Fisher’s New York Knicks squad, which is just simply playing for improvement late in the year, the desperation won out.
The Knicks looked to play spoiler to the Pacers, who needed a win to remain in striking distance of a playoff spot, but a slow start—just 14 points in the first quarter—set them behind early on as the Pacer cruised 102-86.
“They had a lot of reasons to win this game tonight. It was a very important game for them,” Coach Fish said. “Each game is kind of like a playoff game for them, and they played that way. They were physical from the start. They overmatched us and overpowered us. You have to give the Pacers credit. They came in with a purpose tonight and they got the job done.”
Langston Galloway led the way with 19 points for the Knicks, who had five players finish in double figures. He was joined by a 15-point night from Andrea Bargnani and three players with a dozen each off the bench: Jason Smith, Quincy Acy and Tim Hardaway Jr. The Knicks reserves actually outscored the Pacers second unit 45-39 and provided a bright spot on the night at Madison Square Garden.
“A few of our guys in that starting lineup had tough nights,” Derek said. “We had to try to find a way in the second and fourth quarter to get some other guys in there.”
During that first quarter, the Pacers held the Knicks to just 14 points on 25 percent shooting. Indy took a 26-14 lead into the second frame, where New York’s second unit picked it up on the offensive end.
Jason Smith and Ricky Ledo combined for 10 points to provide a nice spark, and Bargnani then came through with six points. However, the defense wasn’t there: The Pacers shot 60 percent and added four points to their cushion before halftime.
That was the biggest quarter from Ledo, who just joined the Knicks in late March. He finished just 2-of-7 on the night, and afterward, Fish talked about how the new Knick is still trying to fit in late in the season.
“He needs to trust his instincts a little more. I think he’s passing up on opportunities to just catch it and shoot it. I’m sure some of that is coming from trying to fit in, trying to make his teammates feel good about playing with him. But when you run an offense that is based on a system, the system creates opportunities and you have to catch it and shoot it in rhythm with the offense. And I think that’s one thing that will help him a lot.”
After they showed signs of life in the second, the third quarter was all too much like the first for the Knicks. The Pacers went to work on the inside, tallying 18 of their 29 points in the painted area, shooting 58.8 percent along the way. Meanwhile, New York turned the ball over five times and shot just 35 percent to fall into an 83-55 hole going into the final frame.
The Knicks had their best quarter of the game in the fourth. Hardaway led the way with 11 and a trio of threes, while Acy and Galloway went for eight and seven apiece. New York held Indy to just 31.3 percent shooting, but even the 31-19 period was too little, too late in the loss.
George Hill was the leading scorer for Indiana, registering 20 points by going 7-for-11 from the field, but the interior work set the tone for the visitors. Roy Hibbert tallied an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double, and Luis Scola went for 11 points and nine boards to help the Pacers amass a 54-34 advantage on the boards and a 50-22 scoring advantage inside the paint.
After the defeat, Fish talked about the domino effect that plagued his team. Once shots began to miss their mark, it carried over to the defensive end and the Knicks’ gameplan went out the window.
“Some shots weren’t falling, some whistles weren’t going their way, and the frustration got the best of them. So that’s when the defensive breakdowns started happening,” Fish explained. “We talked about protecting our paint, but we couldn’t do that consistently tonight against a team that we knew wanted to get into the paint.”
While it was another rough night in a rough season for New York, the Knicks brass remains confident in what Coach Fish can do. Recently, team president Phil Jackson commented that tough times like these will be good for Derek in the long run.
“He has a mentality that corresponds with the way I like to see the game played,” Jackson said in an interview with MSG Network. “He has handled it very well. That will bear out fruit in the future, and I think it’s going to be terrific for him.”
NEXT UP
With just four games remaining in the 2015 season, the Knicks will remain in New York Friday as they play host to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Milwaukee still has to win in order to keep their seeding, with a few teams close behind. The Bucks sit in 6th in the East currently.
The Knicks look to avoid a series sweep at the hands of the Bucks.