INDIANAPOLIS _ Joakim Noah's free-throw attempt in the opening minute sailed to the left and hit nothing. Kristaps Porzingis bricked his first six shots and committed two turnovers in the first 10 minutes. The Knicks appeared to be on their way to one of those long nights.
Instead, it turned into a game with which the Knicks have become all too accustomed. It was a nail-biter in the closing seconds, and lately that's when the Knicks have fallen apart or been snakebitten. This time, they got a break to go their way.
Carmelo Anthony hit some clutch shots down the stretch, and the Knicks got a huge turnover with the game on the line that helped them pull out a 109-103 victory over the Pacers last night.
With the Knicks clinging to a two-point lead, Indiana's Myles Turner mishandled a pass that went off his foot with 16.2 seconds left. Courtney Lee was fouled on the inbounds pass and made both free throws with 15.1 seconds left to seal the win.
The Knicks' last three losses were by two, three and one points, respectively.
Anthony scored 26 points to lead the Knicks (20-26) to only their fourth win in the last 17 games. Derrick Rose added 20. The Knicks got a big lift from their bench, which led them back from 14 down in the first quarter.
Willy Hernangomez continues to show he deserves more minutes. He was one of the second-quarter sparks, and finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds in 24 minutes. It's his second double-double in his last three games. Justin Holiday added 13.
Paul George scored 31 to lead Indiana (22-22). Turner had 22 points and 10 rebounds.
It was somewhat of a predictable beginning as the Knicks' starters dug a 14-point hole. They needed their second unit (plus Rose) to turn things around, and they did in the second. In the third, the Knicks' starters finally made a positive impact, building a 17-point lead.
The Knicks led by 16 in the fourth but scored just two points over the next 6:43 and let the Pacers draw within 100-99. Anthony scored inside to make it a three-point game with 1:07 remaining.
Porzingis fouled out on the next Indiana possession, leading to two Monta Ellis free throws that cut it to 102-101 with 60 seconds to go. The Knicks went back to Anthony, and he was fouled. He hit 1 of 2 to give the Knicks a 103-101 lead with 46.5 seconds remaining.
Anthony committed a foolish foul on George 4.5 seconds later, and he made both shots to tie it at 103. But Anthony delivered on the other end again, as he made a tough turnaround jumper to put the Knicks up with 23.4 seconds left.
Porzingis fouled out with eight points and four rebounds.
Leading 86-75 to open the fourth, Jeff Hornacek stuck with what worked in the second quarter. He played four reserves with Rose. The Knicks extended to 98-82 after a Holiday 3-pointer with 7:49 left. But the Knicks let the Pacers score 11 consecutive points to cut it to 98-93 with 5:10 left.
The drought ended when Lee's short jumper put the Knicks up seven with 4:56 left. But the Knicks continued to come up empty after that.
Just before the shot clock expired, Rose took a desperation three-point shot that was blocked. Anthony threw the ball out of bounds. Rose drove and had the ball slapped away and it went out of bounds off of him. On their next trip, Rose drove and got to the basket but Turner blocked his layup.
Turner hustled downcourt and threw down an offensive rebound to bring Indiana within 100-99 with 2:19 left. Rose committed another turnover, but George missed a jumper with a chance to give Indiana the lead.
After Turner rejected Holiday's shot out of bounds, the Knicks called timeout. Out of the stoppage, they went to Anthony, who turned inside and scored to make it 102-99 with 1:07 left.
