Knicks' Comeback Bid Falls Short Against Pacers

The Knicks lost, 106-98, to the Pacers on Friday night, but without a lifeless start to the third quarter, things perhaps could have gone differently.

The Knicks didn't exactly enter halftime on fire, seeing what had been a 5-point lead evaporate in the second quarter and give way to a 7-point halftime deficit. But that manageable deficit would balloon to 22 points in the third quarter after the Knicks were outscored 23-8 to start the period.

What exactly led to the huge differential? For one, a peculiar lineup change that saw Moe Harkless replace Reggie Bullock in the starting lineup to begin the third quarter.

"Just combinations, it wasn't anything strategic," Miller said of the second half starters. "We just felt like, matchup-wise, with who they had out with their first group and then second group, it gave us better matchups going through. 

"And we think our guys are versatile and we can move them around that way, and we're still finding ways to see which combination works best there. We just thought that, after the first term, that might be a better way to start it."

Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way, as spacing suffered mightily with Bullock's absence and the Knicks were shelled as a result.

That's not to say there were no positives that came out of the second half. The Knicks managed to turn that 22-point deficit into only an 8-point loss, including shaving the difference down to just four points late in the game. Unfortunately, the well ran out late and the Knicks were unable to make the final shot or two that was needed to complete the comeback.

Even more encouraging was that, on a night that Julius Randle only managed seven points on 2-9 shooting, the Knicks found other offense in their stable of young players. RJ Barrett finished with 17 points on 8-19 shooting and looked very spry after the rest of the All-Star break. Frank Ntilikina drew the start with Elfrid Payton injured and scored 14 points on 5-11 shooting himself, including a number of clutch buckets down the stretch of the Knicks' comeback bid.

A lineup of Ntilikina, Barrett, Damyean Dotson, Bobby Portis (who exploded for a team-high 19 points on 6-11 shooting) and Randle led the charge for the Knicks late, an encouraging sign post-All-Star break to have so much of the team's youth on the court closing a game against a playoff team.

"I think it was figuring out their game plan defensively," Ntilikina said. "They had the will to close the paint and we finally figured it out, but I think it was too late. Those plays where we drew the defense, we spread it to our shooters. We adjusted, which was a good thing, now we have to learn how to figure out the game plan earlier to be able to win games."

One thing that didn't help the Knicks — having Mitchell Robinson for only 17 minutes due to foul trouble again. The Knicks were out-rebounded 50-40 for the game, with four of the Pacers' five starters collecting eight or more boards (led by Domantas Sabonis' game-high 13).

Robinson collected eight boards himself, evening the height matchup for the Knicks a bit while he was out there, and even playing some solid defense on Indiana's lone All-Star Sabonis. Robinson also collected eight points (4-5 shooting) and four blocks. Ultimately, however, it was crafty post play by Sabonis that doomed Robinson to ride out the last nine-plus minutes on the bench for the Knicks.

Without Robinson, the Knicks often struggled on the glass, giving up 12 offensive rebounds that turned into 20 second-chance points for the Pacers.

"I think we played good defense," Barrett said. "They have some big guys out there. They hustled more than us and they made more hustle plays."

So, another loss for the Knicks now puts them at 17-39 for the season, but the most encouraging aspect of the first loss of the "second half" of the season is that maybe — and on merit, not just as a courtesy in the name of development — some of the Knicks' young players are ready to just snatch the closing roles on this team. Perhaps a youthful Ntilikina, Barrett, Dotson, Randle and Robinson closing lineup isn't that far off.