Pacers Run Knicks Out Of Indiana In Blowout

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Thursday, January 17^th, 2014

New York Knicks vs. Indiana Pacers

Post Game Recap

The Knicks were embarrassed Thursday night in Indiana as the Pacers blew them out 117-89. The Knicks were a disaster after a strong first quarter as the Pacers eventually forced their will upon the Knicks. It was the second consecutive poor performance for the Knicks who had looked to have finally turned the corner after a strong Texas Triangle road trip. The Knicks were awful Thursday night but will have a chance to get things back together as they will be right back at it Friday night at Madison Square Garden to take on the Los Angeles Clippers.

Player of the Game: Carmelo Anthony

Brian Spurlock/USA TODAY Sports

Anthony looked to be the only Knick who showed up to Indiana ready to play a basketball game. Like plenty of times this season Anthony attempted to put the team on his back and carry them; against lesser teams he is capable but not against a team as strong as the Pacers. On the night Anthony scored 28 points (8-17 FG, 3-3 3pt, 9-9 FT), grabbed eight rebounds and one assist. The Knicks need to offer Anthony more help if they ever expect to beat or even at least keep pace with the Pacers.

Match-Up of the Game Recap

Lance Stephenson came out and treated the Knicks like an overmatched kid at Rucker Park; he hot dogged around the court and embarrassed the Knicks thoroughly with his play. Stephenson scored a team high 28 points (10-17 FG, 3-7 3pt, 5-5 FT), adding four rebounds and four assists. He had the highest +/- in the game with +30 and dominated the match up with Iman Shumpert, who was virtually a ghost the whole night. Shumpert only took four shots, making one and missing all three of his three point attempts. He grabbed five rebounds and handed out two assists as he had no positive impact on the game.

-Positives

The first quarter, at least on the offensive end. The Knicks led 31-30 at the end of the first quarter and looked like they would give a challenge to the Pacers as the offense hummed behind Anthony. The challenge from the Knicks was short lived as the offense sputtered and the Pacers continued to pour it on.

-Negatives

The Knicks have battled injuries all season and it didn’t stop in Indiana. The Knicks lost Kenyon Martin and Amar’e Stoudemire to left ankle sprains and Tim Hardaway Jr. re-injured his surgically repaired left wrist. Add those three to Pablo Prigioni and Metta World Peace as Knicks that we may not see on the court for the foreseeable future.

The defensive effort was putrid. The Knicks showed no heart on the defensive end, seemingly giving up on multiple plays and just not playing hard. The Pacers poured it on as the Knicks did not look to care very much about what was going on in the game. The Pacers shot 50 percent in the game (43-86 FG, 10-23 3pt, 21-23 FT) and embarrassed the Knicks. Whatever the Pacers wanted to do on offense they were able to do as the Knicks did not offer any resistance.