The Indiana Pacers shot 53.5 percent from the floor in an 18-point rout of a shorthanded New York Knicks squad.
- New York Knicks 97 (11-12)
- Indiana Pacers 115 (13-11)
- NBA, Final, Box Score
- Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
The Knicks found themselves without Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr. for the second straight game and it showed. The Pacers were able to get anything they wanted offensively against New York while the Knicks struggled mightily on the offensive end.
New York shot only 44 percent from the floor on Monday night while allowing the Pacers to drain 11 threes. They found themselves down by as much as 38 points.
Michael Beasley was inserted into the starting lineup for the second straight game and got off to a hot start, scoring 13 points on 6-for-8 shooting in the first half. However, he was held scoreless in the second half.
Damyean Dotson also started for the second straight game and scored nine points, grabbed seven rebounds and came away with two steals.
Thaddeus Young was the high scorer for Indiana with 20 points on 9-for-11 shooting. Lance Stephenson only managed nine points off the bench but absolutely abused Frank Ntilikina in a “welcome to the league, rook” move.
Oh my goodness Lance Stephenson just cooked the rook well-done ?? pic.twitter.com/P8eL0phrUv
— LeRob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) December 5, 2017
The bench saw plenty of minutes due to the blowout. Willy Hernangomez put in 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in 16 minutes of action. Ron Baker, who finished the game a team-best plus-16, tied his season-high in points with six off of two threes.
Joakim Noah also saw garbage time minutes in Indiana, scoring three points, grabbing three rebounds and passing for three assists.
New York will hope to get back in the win column against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday. Memphis came into Monday’s game against the Wolves with an 11-game losing streak.
The team hopes that Porzingis will be able to play for the first time since injuring his ankle against the Heat on Nov. 29.
Dot with the defense. pic.twitter.com/lVoSk6oBXH
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 5, 2017
Ambidextrous ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/SlK7a3XGuW
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 5, 2017
