Knicks trying to turn their Garden path around
Alec Burks of the Knicks reacts after hitting a three-point shot in the second half against the Pacers at Madison Square Garden on Monday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Knicks needed this.
They needed to show they could play well at home. Heck, they needed to show they could play well, period.
And they played killer defense when they needed it most, all but closing down the Indiana Pacers in the fourth quarter on the way to a 92-84 win at Madison Square Garden on Monday night.
The Knicks held the Pacers to 10 points and 2-for-20 shooting in the final quarter as they ended a three-game home losing streak. The Pacers hit their last field goal with 7:06 remaining.
"If we play like that, we’re going to have a great chance to win," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "It was a good win for us."
Good and much-needed.
Heading into the game, the Knicks were struggling. Their starters looked lost. Their defense was no longer their dependable calling card. And they had lost five of their previous seven games.
"We know we had been laying eggs at home," said Taj Gibson, who was a team-high plus-22. "We were in a rut . . . A lot of guys stepped up big tonight and we played for each other."
The Knicks (8-6) now need to keep playing for each other, especially this week, when they have a golden opportunity to fix their home hiccups.
Monday night’s contest was the first of three straight games against opponents with losing records. The Knicks now will play Orlando (3-11) and Houston (1-13).
Indiana, on paper, is the toughest of the three. The Pacers entered Monday night’s game having won five of their previous seven, including a 111-98 win over the Knicks in Indiana on Nov. 3. The Knicks fell behind 11-0 and never led in that game as they were buried by a barrage of three-pointers.
So the Pacers not only entered Monday night’s game with confidence but came in with the desire to show what they could do on a big-time stage, Madison Square Garden.
It doesn’t matter that there are players on coach Rick Carlisle’s Indiana team who weren’t alive when the Pacers-Knicks rivalry was at its zenith. Coming to New York, Carlisle said, is still a big deal.
"Our core guys are in their mid-to-late 20s. They were alive back then," he said before the game. "Many of them follow basketball. They know who Patrick Ewing and Reggie Miller are and those kinds of things. When you come to New York and play here, it’s a big deal. It’s a larger-than-life experience."
Unfortunately for the Knicks, the Pacers aren’t the only team that gets up to play at the Garden. Some of the Knicks’ worst moments this season have unfolded there. Among the teams they had lost to were Orlando and Cleveland.
Last season, the Knicks posted a 25-11 record at MSG that helped push them to their first playoff appearance in eight seasons. Of course, many of those games took place in front of no fans or limited crowds because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so it’s possible there was less pressure on the Knicks as they started what was supposed to be a rebuilding year under Thibodeau.
Knicks point guard Derrick Rose played plenty of games as a visitor to the Garden, and he said he always came in looking to have a big game.
"Of course, being in the city, the mecca of basketball, you want to have a good performance in the Garden," he said Sunday. "It looks good on the resume. It’s a great feeling playing there, not just the home team but the road team. When you win games, you shut the crowd up."
Now the Knicks are hoping they can get back to being the kind of team that is a tough out at home.
Immanuel Quickley, who hit two big three-pointers in the fourth quarter, went 4-for-4 on threes and had 16 points and five rebounds in 23 minutes, said it’s not just visitors who like playing in New York.
Said Quickley: "It’s fun playing in the Garden. I’m not going to lie."
On Monday night, it certainly was.
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.
