Knicks Lose 108-105 on Carmelo Anthony Airball

Wednesday night, the New York Knicks contended in a well-played, tightly contested game against the Indiana Pacers in Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

New York held a 54-52 lead at halftime, due in large part to Kyle O’Quinn playing out of his mind! It helped that O’Quinn had a couple of really friendly-rolls.

The Queens native really kept the Knicks in the game while the team had a lull in scoring, scoring 10 out of the team’s 13 points at one point. O’Quinn really bailed the Knicks out on a couple of late-buzzer situations as he scored ten of his season-high 19 points in the first half. It was the most points O’Quinn had ever scored coming off the bench.

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New York was winning despite it’s superstar having a really poor night. Carmelo Anthony shot just 5/20 from the field for 14 points… However, the Knicks stayed in the game with their spectacular shooting, particularly in the first half. The Knicks converted on 63.6% of their attempts from downtown in the first half, making seven triples! Jose Calderon made it splash from beyond the arc, going a perfect 3/3 from the land of three in the first half, finishing the game with 20 points.

Not only was Anthony not helping at all on the offensive end… he was also a liability on the defensive end. Rookie Myles Turner really took it to Melo in the post… out-bullying the bully. #bullyball Turner scored seven consecutive points late in the second quarter, and Indiana just kept feeding him the ball. Although the Pacers would go to the well one too many times as Turner would miss three straight wild shots to finish the first half, so he wasn’t exactly dominant.

As per usual… it was the third quarter that did the Knicks in once again… The Pacers jumped out to a 64-56 lead, three minutes out of halftime… by going on a 12-2 run. Turner scored half the points in the run, and finished the game with 24 points and 6 rebounds. Indiana extended the run and would stretch the lead out to as many as 11 points, largest of the game.

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Insert Kyle O’Quinn. O’Quinn scored seven straight points again, part of an 10-0 Knicks run that got New York within one possession again with a minute remaining in the third quarter; 76-74.

New York would then take a 90-84 lead early in the fourth quarter behind the hot-shooting of Langston Galloway. Galloway knocked down three three-pointers in a stretch of four minutes of play! Galloway was clutch Wednesday night, scoring ten of his 17 points in the final period.

Unfortunately… Pacers All-Star Paul George was even more clutch… PG-13 scored 15 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter, bursting out on a couple of mini-runs that gave Indiana the upper hand. First with six straight points to give the Pacers a one-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, and then a couple of minutes later, seven consecutive points to give the Pacers a 107-101 lead with 1:19 left in the game.

Calderon quickly answered with a pull-up jumper that cut the deficit down to 107-103 with 1:06 remaining. George intelligently killed the clock, but would go on to miss a pull-up jumper of his own. New York then got within two points on a Anthony put-back with 29.6 seconds left in the game, leaving plenty of time for a stop and a timeout.

New York Knicks

However… Monta Ellis would take a foolish shot with 12.8 seconds still remaining on the clock… BUT it did not matter… Turner grabbed the offensive rebound… and the Knicks were forced to foul. Fortunately, Turner split the free-throws, giving New York one last chance to tie the game up with 1.9 seconds left in regulation.

Unfortunately… it was not meant to be… as Anthony air-balled the final shot… A fitting ending to an awful night by Melo…

Basically it was only Anthony and Arron Afflalo that struggled Wednesday night, going a combined 6/26 from the field… The rest of the team shot over 50% from their field goals!

The biggest head-stretcher in the game though was Kurt Rambis‘ lineup in the fourth quarter… With O’Quinn having the best game as a Knick… WHY DID HE NOT PLAY MORE IN THE FOURTH QUARTER!? O’Quinn only played a little over a minute in the final period… when he scored 19 points on 7/10 shooting, in 16 minutes… WHY!? O’Quinn clearly had the hot-hand… why not ride it out?

Next: New York Knicks: Jimmer Fredette’s Long Road Back to NBA

The Knicks will take on the 25-30 Orlando Magic Friday night… maybe New York can sneak a win out of that…