INDIANAPOLIS — The Knicks' recent losses have one thing in common. It won't close.
This wasn't supposed to happen for a top-heavy team with an expensive and star-studded starting lineup.
But for the third time in the past four games, those starters were crushed in key moments, and the Knicks lost 132-121 to the Pacers on Sunday.
Defense and rebounding were predictably problematic for the Knicks (4-5), who took a two-point lead in the fourth quarter before falling behind 40-27.
Tyrese Haliburton and Benedict Mathurin combined for 73 points, but they were unable to stop a shoddy Pacers team.
Haliburton, who helped knock the Knicks out of the playoffs last season, had his best game of the season with 35 points and 14 assists.
Indiana's shooting success rate reached nearly 70% in the fourth quarter.
Offensively, the Knicks were good enough. Jalen Brunson (33 points, 10 assists), Karl-Anthony Towns (30 points) and OG Anunoby (25 points) scored efficiently.
But the busy Knicks allowed 21 3-pointers to the Pacers (including eight in the fourth quarter) and mustered just seven of their own.
They lost the equation.
“You have to understand the math of a game where somebody's making 20 threes and you're making 10. That's going to be a tough game to win,” coach Tom Thibodeau predicted before the game.
Gainbridge Fieldhouse was a house of horrors for the Knicks.
A depleted team lost all three playoff games played in the building last season, including a Mother's Day massacre and Andrew Nembhard's game-winning 3-pointer.
However, the clinic's phone number was switched on Sunday. Other than the duo of Precious Achiuwa and Cam Payne, the Knicks were relatively healthy.
Meanwhile, the Pacers are without three of their top seven: Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith and Obi Toppin. Nesmith, a larger, stronger defender who has given Brunson problems in previous matchups, will be sidelined until “sometime in December” with an ankle injury.
The Pacers also came into the game with Haliburton issues.
Their All-Star guard's production dropped significantly, averaging 14.7 points on 38 percent shooting overall, including an abysmal 25 percent shooting.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle unleashed an excuse before the game.
“Listen, he’s a great player, he’s going to be fine,” Carlisle said. “I've been through this a few times, but even though he was on the Olympic team this summer, he didn't play much, he couldn't train much, because he actually 'Cause I got hurt during the game.''He was there.
“And he was battling another illness through the fall. Really, he's just playing catch-up in terms of conditioning, rhythm and the fact that our team is so different for the NBA game. He's playing with a different type of player. We've got to help him get better looks, higher percentage looks and things like that. .”
But neither the injury nor Haliburton's struggles mattered in front of the Knicks' swiss-cheese defense, especially in the fourth quarter.
