INDIANAPOLIS _ The Knicks unveiled their brand new point guard and young backcourt pairing. It showed some promise, but overall the Knicks showed they didn't have the speed or athleticism to keep up with Indiana.
Pacers' All-Star guard Victor Oladipo put on a show and ruined Emmanuel Mudiay's Knicks' debut. Emmanuel Mudiay finished with 14 points and 10 assists in 29 minutes, but the Knicks lost 121-113 to the Pacers Sunday evening at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Oladipo had a 360-degree dunk, a tomahawk slam and crammed one in over Kyle O'Quinn during his do-it-all performance that sent the Knicks to their sixth straight defeat. Oladipo scored 30 points, passed for nine assists and grabbed eight rebounds.
Tim Hardaway Jr. and Enes Kanter each scored 17 for the Knicks (23-34). Michael Beasley added 16.
The slow-footed Knicks gave the Pacers (32-25) many open looks from three-point range and couldn't stay in front of Oladipo. Indiana was 12-for-28 on 3-pointers.
But the Knicks hope they have found something in this game as Jeff Hornacek played rookie Frank Ntilikina and Mudiay together. That could be something that happens regularly over the final 25 games of the season.
They were productive. Ntilikina scored 12 points in 30 minutes, and led some Knicks' runs.
The Knicks were down by 20 in the third quarter. But Mudiay and Ntilikina helped lead them back with a 16-4 run over the third and fourth quarters. The Knicks were within 94-86 after two Ntilikina free throws 27 seconds into the fourth.
They cut it to 103-96 after a Hardaway driving layup with 7:45 left. The Pacers then scored seven consecutive points and 10 of the next 12 and opened a 113-98 lead after an Oladipo three-point play with 5:34 left.
In the run, Lance Stephenson and Thaddeus Young knocked down 3-pointers.
The Knicks drew within 117-111 after a Ntilikina 3-pointer with 1:10 to go. But Oladipo answered with a 3-pointer with 51.7 seconds left to make it a nine-point game.
Mudiay entered for the first time as a Knick with 6:38 left in the first quarter, and played alongside Ntilikina. Hornacek said he wanted to see if the Knicks could pick up the pace with two point guards playing together.
It did work. The Knicks scored 21 points over the final 6:00 of the first quarter. Mudiay was 2-for-2 with four points and three assists and Ntilikina made his only field goal attempt in that time.
The Knicks led 37-36 after one. But they went through a lull in the second and were outscored 12-2 over 3:42 stretch of the second and trailed 53-45 midway through the quarter. The Indiana run was 8-0 while Ntilikina and Mudiay were on the court together.
The Knicks eventually tied it at 53 after a Hardaway 3-pointer. But their defense continued to fail them. They allowed 15 points over the last 4:12 of the second and trailed 68-62 at halftime.
It continued in the third as the Pacers used a 15-4 run to take a 90-70 lead with 4:10 left in the quarter. After scoring 37 points in the first 12 minutes, the Knicks totaled just 33 over the next 20.
