Nov

5

4th Quarter Defense Helps Indiana Get In Win Column, Defeat Knicks 101-89

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under NBA Game Recap 

Typically when you have a pair of your top players on the bench then your star player fouls out, chances are that your team is going to lose. Ifyou happen to be the Indiana Pacers, then the chances of that happening increase dramatically. But a funny thing happened at Madison Square Garden in their game Wednesday against the New York Knicks.

An unlikely source of offense – T.J. Ford – came through and the Pacers actually played some defense late in the fourth quarter. The end result? Indiana finally cracked the win column as they defeated New York 101-89.

The Pacers committed seven turnovers in the first quarter yet managed to trail by only four as both teams shot poorly; things picked up in the second quarter with the Knicks’ Al Harrington scoring 10 points and New York hitting 62% to take a 56-50 lead.

The Knicks would lead by seven in the third quarter before the Pacers scored the final seven points of the period; Granger drained a three-pointer, but the balance of their points were courtesy of the charity stripe which pulled Indiana to within one at 74-73 going into the final quarter.

New York stayed within four points by making several trips to the free throw line until Ford’s jumper gave Indiana a 93-87 lead with 3:12 left; he would follow up with two free throws to pad the Pacers’ lead up to eight. After Harrington made a pair of free throws, Ford came back to knock down another jumper, enabling the Pacers to seal the win, holding an 97-89 lead with 48 seconds remaining in the game.

Granger led five Pacers in double-digit scoring with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and a block while Dahntay Jones had another solid game with 19 points, 12 rebounds and an assist; Ford scored 16 with 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal while Roy Hibbert notched another double-double, adding 15 with 14 rebounds, an assist, a steal and 2 blocks.

New York was led by Al Harrington with 22 from off the bench along with 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks while David Lee added 20 with 19 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Indiana (1-3) plays again on Friday when they host the Washington Wizards while New York (1-4) hosts the Cleveland Cavaliers – also on Friday night.


Updates, Fresh From the Oven, Straight to Your Inbox

Comments

Leave a Reply