Knicks 110, Pacers 107: Scenes from .500, baby!

Dude, where to start? I’m still a bit hazy as I type this. Our beloved New York Knicks have now won as many games as they have lost this season. The record of .500, which had become the Knicks’ white whale for decades, has been reached. All it took was 48 minutes of punitive basketball against their old nemesis, the Indiana Pacers. It wasn’t pretty, but the Knicks came away with the 110-107 victory.

The game looked like a smashing victory for the Pacers at first, as the Knicks looked sloppy as hell and Indy hit a threesome barrage. But these Thibodeau who fight do not leave. They reduced a deficit from 16 points to one and took their first lead in the half thanks to a buzzer-beater from Derrick Rose (17 points, 11 assists).

The Pacers came back to take the lead in the fourth quarter, and the Knicks’ offense looked rather stagnant. It was then that young pistol RJ Barrett took over.

Unfortunately, RJ felt the pressure on the free throw line late, missing two with the Knicks with a 108-106 lead. The Knicks needed one more save to finally claim .500. And rode the oldest Knick, Frank Ntilikina.

Credit Rose for hijacking TJ McConnell’s pass, and Frank for tracking the theft vigilantly. Frank hit a pair to the line to freeze the game.

Julius Randle once again took the upper hand over his All-Star counterpart, Domantas Sabonis, with 28 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals.

Nerlens Noel was forced to play 41 minutes after Taj Gibson injured his ankle in the first half. He did the yeoman’s job on defense and hit a pair of late free throws. Great stuff.

Recap to come. .500!