It felt like a loss.
The Knicks did not appear to have come to play from the start, forcing an angry Tom Thibodeau to time out after falling quickly 8-0.
Taj Gibson, one of the team’s two healthy centers, was injured after 4 minutes and it didn’t look like the Knicks 16-17 would improve to 0.500 after 34 games for the first time since 2017.
The Pacers increased their lead to 16 in the second half, and the Knicks looked dead in the water.
What followed was one of the most inspiring gaming moments of this season. In a stretch of 24-6, the Knicks repeatedly left the transition while Quickley effortlessly drained one of his three trios in the night, Randle had two powerful dunks, RJ gave up two of his four trios in the game and Derrick Rose ended with a bell in the first half three a la Carmelo against the Bobcats.
Things seemed less certain in the second half.
Despite immediately shooting with a four-point play early in the fourth period, Immanuel Quickley was withdrawn shortly afterwards, despite playing just 13 minutes.
The Knicks displayed a dull line of Rose-Burks-Bullock-Randle-Noel as their lead diminished and the game looked on track to be a disappointing defeat, with only the veterans gaining valuable experience of decisive time.
With 6:37 remaining on Wednesday, Myles Turner made a three to put the Pacers in 94-91.
Fortunately, the youth movement was back to the 4:38 mark, when RJ Barrett checked in. Although Barrett can generally be inconsistent, he played reliably as a fully NBA contender against the Pacers, averaging 25 points per game against them in the season. The fourth quarter stretch of his impressive game tonight was no exception.
In four consecutive possessions, the 20-year-old looked like a veteran when he hit a three, drove to a tray for 1, helped Randle in a tray for three and drove to another tray.
RJ putting Indiana in the torture chamber two consecutive moves … the second could be strangely one of my favorite drives of his career? pic.twitter.com/lgcPe8P3NX
– The Halfcourt Press (@THalfCourtPress) February 28, 2021
Barrett, who finished with 24 points for 8-17 field shots and 4-6 behind the hoop, helped the Knicks to build a 104-98 lead with 2 minutes left.
The momentum was short-lived, with TJ McConnell quickly defeating Derrick Rose on the court for a tray and hitting Edmond Sumner for a three-way transition in the next two possessions.
The Knicks then doubled over in defense, making two clutch stops and forcing the Pacers to play the dirty game. Julius Randle was then showered with screams from MVP while putting the Knicks in 108-103 with 29.7 seconds remaining.
In what is becoming a trend with Randle, he turned what appeared to be a poor performance into a tremendous one, with an incredible 28 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals.
The game seemed to be back in the hands of the Knicks, but things are never so simple with this franchise.
Sabonis hit a three to bring them within two with 25 seconds remaining and the RJ Indiana magic dissipated at the worst possible moment, as he missed two important free throws that would have froze the game.
The positive vibes were restored when Frank Ntiliikina checked in for defensive purposes in an Indiana equalizer attempt with 15 seconds remaining.
Despite finishing with just 5 points in 10 minutes, Ntilikina made one of the most important plays in the game, arriving with a steal and draining two free throws with 2.9 seconds left to put the game out of reach.
As P&T Walt Clyde Phraser noted, the game ended with a French kiss.
It was a fantastic game, despite the bad start. Julius Randle overcame fellow All-Star Domantas Sabonis, Nerlens Noel played a stifling defense in his 41 minutes of play and Derrick Rose provided a constant offensive presence with 17 points and 11 assists.
Most exciting, the Knicks have a record of 0.500, always undefined after 34 games and are tied for fourth in the very strange Eastern Conference.
The biggest concern with tonight’s game is that the Knicks will play again tomorrow night in Detroit.
With Rose, Randle, Noel and Rose playing 38+ minutes tonight, it will be the key to managing your playing time tomorrow night so as not to overwhelm them, especially Rose. Rose had not played many minutes since the 2019 season, and in the six games in which she played more than 38 minutes, he usually had to be left out due to an injury just a game or two later on each occasion.
But with Quickley, Ntilikina, Obi Toppin and Kevin Knox combining for just 31 minutes tonight, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find some invigorating legs, especially with the impressive recent game of the top three.