Pacers beat Knicks to finish 3-2 on trip

[January 12, 2019]  Domantas Sabonis collected 22 points and 15 rebounds as the Indiana Pacers ended a season-high five-game road trip with a 121-106 victory over the host New York Knicks on Friday night.

The Pacers finished the trip 3-2 and won for the 15th time in 19 games by leading for the final 27 minutes. Indiana shot 52.1 percent, improved to 16-2 when making at least half its shots and 24-4 against opponents with losing records.

Playing without starting center Myles Turner for a fourth straight game due to a sore right shoulder, the Pacers rebounded nicely from a 135-108 loss at Boston on Wednesday.

Sabonis started for Turner and shot 9-of-14 from the field. He recorded his team-leading 19th double-double as the Pacers outrebounded New York 47-37.

Victor Oladipo added 19 points as the Pacers beat the Knicks for the 13th time in the last 14 meetings. Bojan Bogdanovic contributed 15 points while Thaddeus Young chipped in 13, six boards and four steals.

Reserves Tyreke Evans and Doug McDermott finished with 12 apiece while starting point guard Darren Collison handed out 10 assists.

New York's Emmanuel Mudiay scored all of his 21 points in the second half as the Knicks returned home from a 1-5 road trip and lost for the 16th time in 18 games since Dec. 1. Reserve Damyean Dotson added 15 while rookie Kevin Knox finished with 14 as New York shot 44.3 percent and absorbed its seventh consecutive home loss.

Pacers guard Victor Oladipo (4) controls the ball against New York Knicks forward Luke Kornet (2) and New York Knicks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. (3) during the second quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The Knicks were without Enes Kanter, who sat out with flu-like symptoms two days after he tweeted a video of himself eating several cheeseburgers. They also lost Tim Hardaway Jr. with about seven minutes remaining due to hamstring cramping.

After the Knicks forged a 52-52 tie on a 3-pointer by Knox, Oladipo hit two 3-pointers as the Pacers scored the final 12 points to take a 64-52 lead by halftime. In the third quarter, the Pacers pushed their lead over 20 points when a 3-pointer by Bogdanovic made it 80-59 with about 7 1/2 minutes left. They took a 96-82 lead into the fourth and maintained their double-digit lead the rest of the way.

--Field Level Media

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