The Indiana Pacers beat the New York Knicks to win their ninth consecutive home game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Now, if those W's were babies, they'd have a face only a mother could love, but I have to admit that winning style is starting to turn into a thing of beauty that has the Fieldhouse rocking.

After shutting down the Miami Heat and New York Knicks, two teams accustomed to filling up the stat sheet, the Pacers have bolstered their reputation for locking down teams on the defensive end. They've also booster their place in the Eastern Conference standings.

With the Miami Heat taking another loss on the road at Portland on Thursday, the Pacers remain in third place just two game behind the defending champs for the top spot in the East. Considering Danny Granger is still out, George Hill has been hurt or sick for the better part of the last two weeks, Roy Hibbert continues to struggle on offense and David West is mired in his own offensive slump the results are becoming ridiculous.

The first quarter against the Knicks was so painful to watch as both teams struggled to finish on the offensive end. It was perfect for Twitter because the jokes wrote themselves. But then I looked at the scoreboard with two minutes left in the quarter and the Pacers were up 14-12. Suddenly I realized the Pacers were sitting right in their comfort zone and had dragged yet another opponent into a grind-out game.

Then in the fourth quarter, winning time with Reggie Miller on hand, Ian Mahinmi and Paul George made winning plays on offense while the defense held the Knicks to 16 points. Simply beautiful.

Check out the links:

• Knicks at Pacers - Box score and highlights
• Game Rewind: Pacers 81, Knicks 76 | THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE INDIANA PACERS
• Pacers Insider: Indiana shows again it can stand up to East's elite | Indianapolis Star | indystar.com
• Kravitz: Pacers playing a defense so tough and ugly, it's beautiful | Indianapolis Star | indystar.com
• Pacers notebook: Frank Vogel confident West’s shooting will rebound | Indianapolis Star | indystar.com
• George does it all (again) as Pacers shut down Knicks | 1070 The Fan – Opinion & Analysis
• Pacers: Is Paul George the best all-around player in franchise history? | Pacers Insider | The Indianapolis Star | IndyStar.com
• Post-Game Grades: Pacers Defense Blankets Knicks - 8 Points, 9 Seconds
• Pacers 81, Knicks 76: "This game is setting offensive basketball back a few decades." - Posting and Toasting
• Knicks Miss Anthony, and Too Many Shots, in Loss to Pacers - NYTimes.com
• Without suspended Carmelo Anthony, NY Knicks finish with season low in points, fall to Pacers - NY Daily News
• Knicks lose to Pacers without Melo - NYPOST.com
• Rapid Reaction: Pacers 81, Knicks 76 - Knicks Blog - ESPN New York
• Paul George makes star turn in win over Knicks - SBNation.com
• Pacers Notebook: Examining a pronounced location disparity - Indy Sports Legends
• Greg Oden, former No. 1 overall pick, plans to resume playing career - sources - ESPN