The Knicks left their shooting problems in 2020, handed over a strong defense and found their finishing touch.
After a brutal New Year’s Eve shooting against the Raptors in Tampa, the Knicks bounced back and leaned on their defense late to close the Pacers for a 106-102 victory Saturday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
After briefly losing the lead midway through the fourth quarter, the Knicks (3-3) used a stretch of 11-0 and closed the game at a point of 13-6 to secure victory.
“That’s the point – whatever we have to do to win, that’s all that matters,” said Julius Randle, who came late with a big bargain that led to a dunk on the decisive run. “We did a great job of making stops along the track and then at the offensive end, just playing for each other.”
RJ Barrett, who was one of the main culprits during a cold shooting night Thursday, rediscovered his groove and led the way with 25 points. Randle shook off a difficult start on Saturday – he was held scoreless until the last minute of the first half – and finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
Randle’s defense over Domantas Sabonis, Mitchell Robinson’s big night (16 points, nine rebounds) and an aggressive Elfrid Payton (19 points) helped the Knicks dominate the Pacers (4-2) in the paint, outwitting them 56-26 and out-rebounding them 51-32.
“That was a big concern, the way they get the ball in the paint and score there,” said coach Tom Thibodeau. ‘Everyone is connected with each other. … [The Pacers put] tremendous pressure on your defenses. You have to do more than one thing, so often there are two, three, four, five tries in one game and that’s what it takes to win. “
Sabonis threw in 32 runs in the season-opening of the Pacers at the Knicks, but was held to 13 runs on Saturday-evening. Malcolm Brogdon caught fire from the center and led the Pacers by 33 points, but the Knicks didn’t let him spoil their otherwise hefty defensive effort.
After shooting a brutal 3-for-36 from outside the arc in Thursday’s defeat, the Knicks started Saturday’s game 3-for-4 from deep and finished 12-for-27.
Barrett threw out the first 3 he took in the first quarter, breaking a slip of 21 consecutive misses from outside the arc over his previous four games. He made it 2-for-2 minutes later and picked up where he left off in Indiana after shooting deep into the 3-for-3 season opener.
After Barrett’s 3-for-8 show on Thursday, he spent an hour on the field in Tampa to get more shots. It seemed to help get him out of his funk when he finished 4-for-5 of 3 on Saturday.
“I just did the extra work, but I really took the same pictures that I took the last few games,” said Barrett. “They went in tonight.”
Although Randle only scored when a lay-up with 43 seconds left in the first half – after starting 0-for-6 with four turnovers and four assists – Robinson helped pick up the slack. The center was active around the edge, clearing offensive rebounds and going 6-for-6 for 12 points in the first half.
The Knicks were down 51-50 at halftime, but came out strong to start the third quarter and set the tone for how they would finish the game on the back of their defense.
“We feel like we give ourselves a chance to win every night, and that’s what we’ve done so far,” said Randle. “The most important thing is to finish games. As I entered the third quarter, I tried to let the guys know that Indiana is a huge team in the third quarter. … So we had to come in aggressively, come in and fight and that’s what we did. “