If revenge is a dish best served cold, the New York Knicks’ timing couldn’t be better.
The Knicks have a chance to use revenge as a recurring Christmas gift this holiday season: after avenging the 1999 squad’s NBA Finals defeat to the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, New York will face the Indiana Pacers in the first half of a back-to-back. It’ll be the first time the two sides face off since Indiana took down the Knicks in last spring’s Eastern Conference Finals.
New York enters as the newly-crowned in-season champions, capping off a sterling NBA Cup campaign with a 124-113 win over the Spurs in Las Vegas. OG Anunoby scored 28 points, three ahead of competition MVP Jalen Brunson at 25. The Knicks ensured that Las Vegas lived up to its reputation as the “City of Second Chances” by pulling in 23 offensive rebounds, 10 alone landing in the arms of Mitchell Robinson. Tuesday’s win produced the first brand of championship recognition for the Knicks since their last Atlantic Division title in 2012-13.
Still reeling from a myriad of injuries, including that of franchise face Tyrese Haliburton and former homegrown Knicks face Obi Toppin, the Pacers continue to meander through what’s essentially a gap year. The latest trial came on Sunday when they lost to the lowly Washington Wizards by a 108-89 final at home. Bennedict Mathurin led the way with 15 points in defeat.
This will be the first of four meetings between the Knicks and Pacers this season. Indiana, of course, is responsible for ending each of the last two Knicks seasons behind the antics of Haliburton and more. The Pacers won last year’s ECF in six games before taking the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder to the brink in the NBA Finals.
Thursday’s injury report suggests that the Knicks are paying a price of sorts for in-season glory, as Anunoby, Robinson, Josh Hart, and Karl-Anthony Towns are all listed as questionable due to various ailments. Indiana is also banged up beyond Haliburton and Toppin, as Aaron Nesmith and Ben Sheppard will miss Thursday’s outing.
What: New York Knicks (18-7) at Indiana Pacers (6-20)
Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
When: Thursday, 7 p.m. ET, MSG
Who’s Favored: NYK -4.5
Keep An Eye On: Ariel Hukporti
The most likely metropolitan absentee figures to be Robinson, judging by the way he kept himself busy in Las Vegas and the fact that the Knicks have been careful with the way they handle his workload in back-to-backs. The fact that the Knicks face Joel Embiid on Friday night at MSG also doesn’t bode well for those hoping to see Robinson in Indianapolis.
Between that and Towns nursing bit of a calf injury (one that kept him sidelined for most of the second half in San Antonio), the Knicks will need some how way to keep up their rebounding prowess, which has them at a perfect 4-0 when they pull in at least 20 second chances. The relative R&D nature of Thursday’s game could afford a larger chance to Hukporti, who took on a muted but decent role in the depth showcase the Knicks enjoyed during the Cup proceedings. Even without Miles McBride, the backup backcourt has been replenished with the emergences of Jordan Clarkson and Tyler Kolek. This might be a good time for Hukporti to form a similar show in the post.
Pacer to Watch: Jarace Walker
By this point of the season, Mathurin and Pascal Siakam probably have to feel like Will Smith in the empty Banks house in the widely-shared meme originating from “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” So many major contributors from last year’s improbable Finals run have been sidelined and the Pacers have more or less accepted the trajectory of this woebegone tour.
A fleeting silver lining has been the fact that the Pacers finally got to see what they have in Walker, a 2023 lottery pick that got buried under the headliners. He’s left a bit to be desired thus far, shooting less than 35 percent from the field and losing about two turnovers a game. Walker was a fringe depth star against the Knicks last year but now he’s behind the eight-ball as he has to reclaim the narrative on his NBA career early on. With the Pacers’ propensity to create unlikely heroes against the Knicks, metropolitan eyes shouldn’t lose the Houston alum.
They Said It
“He played big time. I’m very happy for him. Maybe a surprise to a bunch of people, but none of you see how hard this kid works. Just very happy for him and the way he played tonight. Helped us, for sure, we needed him. He works so hard, I’m very happy for him. This is big time for him.”—Brunson on Tyler Kolek’s work in Las Vegas (h/t Jared Schwartz, New York Post)
“The way we played today is not acceptable. Not enough energy, not the right spirit, obviously not enough aggression, physicality. You can kind of go down the list but we’ve got work to do. If you’re not all there at both ends, all the time, it’s gonna be difficult,” Carlisle repeated. It’s going to be very, very difficult.”—Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle on Sunday’s loss (h/t Scott Agness, Fieldhouse Files)
Prediction
This latest “Hangover” sequel might be staged after Las Vegas.
In perhaps the latest sign that prevailing in the NBA Cup might’ve been more trouble than it was worth—though if the biggest problem with the Knicks is that they’re winning too much, that’s something every fan of sound mind can live with—the Knicks go into a back-to-back a little tired from their Vegas vacation. Even so, they should be able to handle the reeling Pacers with a few men down. Sure, revenge won’t taste as sweet with Haliburton sidelined but, again, that’s the least of the Knicks’ concerns at this point in time.
