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 Now, the Pacers will open the Eastern Conference playoffs at
Toronto after Indiana earned the East's No. 7 seed Tuesday night
with a 102-90 victory against New York, coupled with the Miami
Heat's 99-93 victory at Detroit.
Toronto is the No. 2 seed in the East and will host Game 1 against
No. 7 seed Indiana. Detroit (43-38) will be the No. 8 seed and will
open the playoffs at No. 1 seed Cleveland.
The Pacers overcame New York's 36-point first quarter and defeated
the Knicks, led by 19 points each from Paul George and George Hill.
Indiana (44-37) outscored New York by 19 points during the final
three quarters to finish the regular season 26-15 in Bankers Life
Fieldhouse.
"Teams hit their stride at different times in the season, and we
were hoping to enter the playoffs with some momentum," said Indiana
coach Frank Vogel, whose team is 5-1 in its six most recent games
with a Wednesday contest at Milwaukee yet to play.
 "We got a great game tonight from George Hill, who we ask to play
his game and be aggressive. He does whatever he is asked."
Ian Mahinmi added 14 points, Myles Turner had 13 and Rodney Stuckey
scored 10 for Indiana.
New York's Derrick Williams led all scorers with 21 points. Jerian
Grant added 18 and Arron Afflalo had 13 for the Knicks, who finished
the season with a 32-50 record.
The Pacers shot 51.3 percent from the field (41 of 80) and
outrebounded the Knicks 41-37.
"The Knicks came out hot and negated what we were trying to do, but
then our defensive pressure got better, and we were able to get
control of the game defensively," George said. "In the second half,
we got some stops and got some easy opportunities, a lot of
transition plays."
A Hill 3-pointer and driving layup gave Indiana a 62-59 lead with
8:22 remaining in the third quarter, prompting a New York timeout.
The Pacers used a 9-0 run to expand the lead to 71-64.
A Turner jumper with 51.9 seconds to go in the third quarter gave
Indiana a 79-66 lead. At the end of the quarter, the Pacers were up
79-71.
In the first half, the Knicks made 10 of their first 12 shots from
the field on their way to building a 54-53 lead through 24 minutes.
"In the second half, we didn't do a good job of stopping their
penetration," Knicks coach Kurt Rambis said. "They were allowed to
penetrate, and that created confusion in our defense and allowed
them to get open scoring opportunities. Paul George got himself
going, and a lot of that had to do with our execution."
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New York played without Carmelo Anthony, who was rested. The Knicks
finished the season 0-10 when Anthony did not play.
New York led 36-29 through the first quarter, shooting 65.2 percent
from the floor (15 of 23), including 5 of 5 from Williams, who
finished the opening half with 15 points. Grant added 13 points for
the Knicks.
"There are a lot of good players on this team, so there is a lot of
potential," New York center Robin Lopez said, "We do not always play
up to that potential because we are not consistent enough. But we
have a lot to look forward to."
Indiana got 12 points and six rebounds from Mahinmi during the first
two quarters and 11 points and four assists from George.
The Pacers shot 51.3 percent from the field (20 of 39) in the first
half and were 10 of 14 from the free throw line. Indiana
out-rebounded New York 20-19 during the first 24 minutes.
NOTES: The Knicks played without G Jose Calderon (right quad
contusion), F/C Kristaps Porzingis (strained right shoulder) and F
Lance Thomas (sprained left MCL) in their season finale. ... Indiana
G/F C.J. Miles is battling a sore right shoulder. ... New York is
coming off Sunday's 93-89 loss to Toronto and entered 4-6 in its 10
most recent games. ... New York was 22-22 after defeating Utah on
Jan. 20 but came to Indiana 10-27 since. ... The Pacers came in
having beaten Brooklyn on Sunday night and are 6-4 in their past 10
games. ... The Knicks are the NBA's best free-throw shooting team at
80.4 percent. They are seventh in opponents' 3-point field goal
percentage (34.1) and seventh in turnovers per game (13.4). ... The
Pacers are third in opponents' 3-point field goal percentage (33.4)
and fourth in steals per game (9.1). ... Indiana was looking to
sweep the season series for a second consecutive year and for just
the third time in 40 years. ... Before Tuesday, the Pacers had
beaten the Knicks six straight times.
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