Knicks top Pacers with Dennis Smith Jr. getting extended time

INDIANAPOLIS — Earlier this season, when Dennis Smith Jr. was asked if he believed his turn would come in New York, he bluntly stated, “I’m not a wait-around kind of guy.”

But he had to wait, whether it would be for his chance to get sustained playing time or his chance to prove himself in another city. With the trade deadline on Thursday, there still is a possibility that the second option might come. But for Smith, the opportunity to start again came Saturday.

With Elfrid Payton serving a one-game suspension for his part in the Knicks’ late-game rumble with the Grizzlies on Wednesday and with Frank Ntilikina sidelined with a sore groin, Smith got the start.

He shot only 2-for-9 from the field, but he was on the floor for 27 minutes as the Knicks pulled off an upset, beating the Pacers, 92-85, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. That’s a far cry from the 44-point loss the Knicks (14-36) suffered in his only other start of the season. The Pacers dropped to 31-18, including 18-6 at home.

“I’ve been looking forward to that,” Smith said. “So whenever I get that opportunity I let my hair down. Just have fun, do whatever it takes to win.

“It felt good to go out there and get those minutes, but most importantly, it felt good to get a win against one of the top teams in the league right now, one of the top teams in the East. I think that was major for us.”

Smith hadn’t converted a field goal all night, but after the Pacers took their first lead on a three-point field goal 35 seconds into the fourth quarter, the Knicks got a layup from Marcus Morris and a follow-up hoop from Mitchell Robinson.

Finally, after missing his first five attempts, Smith connected on a pull-up jumper with 9:12 left to give the Knicks a four-point lead. The next time up the court, he hit a short baseline jumper.

It didn’t last. He misfired from three-point range and Doug McDermott answered with a three-pointer to cut the deficit to one again. A few minutes later, with the Knicks up two, he air-balled a twisting layup in the lane.

He then went to the bench and Kadeem Allen, who has shuttled between New York and Westchester of the G League this season, was on the floor for the final minutes as the Knicks frantically worked to hang on.

An eight-point lead was cut to three when Domantas Sabonis broke out ahead of the pack, dunking and drawing a foul with 36.4 seconds left. But Allen fed Morris for a mid-range jumper with 19.6 seconds left.

“I was just out there trying to make plays,” Smith said. “I had Kadeem with me tonight, like North Carolina connection, like big-brother type. He was making sure I stayed confident. That’s what our team is. We’ve got a lot of guys that believe in each other and that makes it a lot easier to go out there and play, make or miss, through mistakes, and stay confident.”

Morris scored 28 points and Julius Randle added 16 points and 18 rebounds.

It wasn’t exactly the sort of showcase Smith or the Knicks would have liked heading to the deadline. If the Knicks want to move Smith, it is hard to imagine them getting much in return, much less a return that would equal the price the Knicks paid to get him in the Kristaps Porzingis trade.

Smith, who started for the first time since Dec. 2,  refused to discuss the impending trade deadline, saying he had made all his comments on it weeks ago.

Notes & quotes: Robinson was left off the USA Team in the Rising Stars Challenge to be held on All-Star Weekend. “It’s not something that’s going to hurt my feelings,” he said. “Pretty much, it is what it is. I’m still going to come out here and play. I didn’t make that — oh, well. I’m still going to move on and continue to play ball. I’m still in the NBA. So I really don’t care.”

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.