Barbara Barker: Knicks show their bad side in loss to Pacers
Jose Alvarado #5 of the New York Knicks drives to the hoop during the first half against the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026 in New York City. Credit: Jim McIsaac
It is OK if you are confused.
It’s OK if you don’t know what to think about this Knicks team and don’t have a solid idea where they will be at the end of the season.
The Knicks haven’t done a whole lot to help you out. On some nights, they look like they could live up to their owner’s prediction and go to the NBA Finals for the first time this century.
On other nights (see Friday’s 38-point loss in Detroit) you really have to wonder if the Knicks are going to crumble when they run into a young, motivated and talented team in the playoffs.
Want more conflicting data? How about Tuesday night’s 137-134 overtime loss to the Indiana Pacers, the team with the worst record in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks had entered the game having won nine of their last 10 with their most recent win being over a good Boston Celtics team on the road.
This finish was both as crazy and ugly as you can get.
The Knicks looked like they might have saved themselves from an embarrassing loss in regulation when Karl-Anthony Towns was fouled with .2 seconds left while trying to put back a Landry Shamet desperation three-pointer. Towns hit both free throws to send the game into overtime tied at 124.
The Pacers (14-40) opened the extra period with a 9-0 run as the Garden fell deadly silent. The Knicks then went on a scoring spree and pulled within one when Jalen Brunson (40 points) hit a three-pointer with 5.6 seconds left. The Knicks, however, would get no closer.
“They did a great job offensively,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said.
“We tried to tighten up the game as we went along. We had plenty of opportunity to get it done. But when you give a team life like we did from the beginning like we did, it’s going to be hard.”
It’s hard to say what kind of Knicks team this is. Is this the same team that clobbered the Boston Celtics on the road just two days ago? Or is it the team that lost to the Pacers, was clobbered twice by the Pistons and struggled in early January losing 9 of 11?
There is a stretch coming up, however, that could give fans a more realistic assessment of what this team might be capable of. After Wednesday’s game in Philadelphia, the team heads into an eight-day All-Star break.
Knicks fans have to hope that is long enough for OG Anunoby’s toenail avulsion to heal and everyone else to rest up.
Because the first couple weeks coming out of the All-Star break look to be the most challenging of the season. Eight of their first 10 opponents after the break are against teams that likely will make the playoffs.
The stretch kicks off with games against Detroit and Houston at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks then play Chicago, Cleveland and Milwaukee on the road.
They then follow up with four tough games at Toronto, Oklahoma City at home, at Denver and at the Lakers.
Brown is a big believer in growth through adversity. He’s not about to make predictions about how his team will do coming out of the All-Star break, but he does believe that the rough period they went through earlier in the year is going to help them.
“Obviously we went through some adversity,” Brown said before Tuesday night’s game.
“We went 2-9 or something like that. You hate to lose games and I’m not signing up to lose games, but we have to struggle. I’m a believer that we have to struggle a couple of times this year. Whatever that means.
“And, it’s going to test our resolve as a group. You have to be connected if you want to give yourself a chance.”
The Pistons could sweep the three-game season series with a win against the Knicks in the first game out of the break. It’s hard to imagine that the Knicks could play worse than they did in their first two meetings as they followed a 31-point loss on Jan. 5 with the 38-point loss last Friday.
Of course, as Boston found out last season, what happens in the regular season doesn’t always carry over into the postseason. The Knicks, who were 0-4 against the Celtics in the regular season and lost by an average of 14 points, beat the Celtics in six games to advance to the conference finals.
Brown believes that everything the Knicks are going through will prepare them for the part of the season that really counts.
“Playoff runs: there is nothing more stressful on an NBA level,” Brown said. “Seven-game series, win four of them. That really tests your resolve.
“Because, man, a lot of things can happen. So be able to hit some adversity. Go through and stay connected and come out of it a little stronger than what you were going into it. It’s something I look forward to.”
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
