Kemba Walker impresses in Knicks’ pre-season rout against Pacers

The Kemba Walker experience got off to a flying start.

After an offensive meltdown without him in last season’s playoffs against Atlanta, the Knicks’ Kemba-led offense looked beefed up as the Bronx point guard was sharp in his preseason debut for his hometown team in the Garden.

After receiving a warm ovation on Tuesday night, Walker racked up 12 points and four assists in 21 minutes, shooting 5 of 10 from the field as the Knicks routed the Pacers, 125-104, in their first game of pre -season. Walker was 2 for 5 on a 3-point range.

“I’m not saying I’m not getting nervous, but not tonight,” said Walker, wearing a red Yankees cap at his post-game press conference. “I actually felt comfortable. … It’s going to be a fun season. ”

The resounding victory, in which the Knicks led by up to 27 points, came after a lackluster result in the annual general managers poll conducted by NBA.com that ranked the Pacers ahead of the Knicks in the Eastern Conference.

The Knicks got Walker for a bargain after he was bought out by Oklahoma City after being traded from Boston over fears of an arthritic left knee. But he looked sharp against the Pacers and didn’t have a turnover. In fact, the Knicks have only had three turnovers.

“I just came in, set the tone, made the right plays,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said of Walker’s first performance. “The game tells you what to do and I think it reads the game extremely well. That veteran leadership, that shooting ability, very good in the pick-and-roll, it puts a lot of pressure on you. And he’s selfless. He gets blitzes, he’s going to get out of the ball. I thought he pulled the blitz pass pretty effectively. ”

With Walker’s nine points and two assists in the first half, the Knicks were leading 67-55 in intermission. Julius Randle (20 points, nine rebounds) capped the offensive flurry with a 14-footer contested first-half buzzer.

But many of the highlights belonged to Walker, who hit his first two shots as a Knick.

Walker got to work early, blowing Malcolm Brogdon for a first quarter layup. He followed that up with an 8-foot inside lane and elbow pull-up, finding the Pacers’ defense creases.

The 31-year-old former Rice High star finished his first half down 3 to Brogdon and was 4 of 7 at halftime.

In his debut with the Knicks, Evan Fournier smashed his first shot – a 3 point right wing. He scored 12 points (3 of 8, 1 of 4 of 3), starting alongside Walker in their state-of-the-art backcourt.

“They played really well,” said RJ Barrett, who scored 17 points, of the new backcourt. “They are amazing. The way they moved the ball, we have a lot of guns.

Walker said his favorite piece of the night was feeding Brooklynite Taj Gibson for a basket on a quick break, after which they kissed. He said the timing was special as they go back to the city’s youth basketball.

Walker’s best assist of the night – also to Gibson – didn’t even result in an assist. The former UConn quick playmaker led the way and threw a bouncy pass through traffic to Gibson, whose layup was blocked by Domantas Sabonis.

But all looked good for Walker.

“It was an unreal feeling,” Walker said. “When I got there it was like, wow, I’m really back home. And today, the circle is complete, where it all began. It’s a real feeling, a great feeling. ”

The Knicks scored 36 points in the first quarter, showing there’s life in an offense that died the last time they graced the field – the first-round playoff loss to Atlanta.

Asked before the game if he expects the Knicks to look as strong as last season’s 41-31 edition, first-year Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said: “ Well they added Kemba Walker and [Evan] Fournier, so it looks like they got better on paper. I expect this to be a pretty good infusion of talent, skill, playmaking and scoring. So that makes them harder. ”