Pacers lose late to Knicks, now hit road for next two

The Pacers and Knicks delivered the usual spirited battle expected between the two rivals regardless of who is on the court. But this time the Knicks scored the last bucket for the win.

Coming off of their NBA Cup win, the Knicks rolled into Indy and appeared to level the playing field with the injury ravaged Pacers, sitting Karl-Anthony Towns, Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart. While rest and not competitive balance was Mike Brown’s goal, the result was a very competitive battle which the Pacers lead the bulk of the way before running out of buckets in the last five minutes of the game.

The Pacers had a 16 point lead in both the first and second half, as a fresh starting lineup with Quenton Jackson in for Ethan Thompson, worked quite well together with QJack and his dynamic effort at both ends of the floor fitting nicely alongside Andrew Nembhard.

Nembhard had an exceptional game, scoring 31 points while guarding Jalen Brunson much of the night, with a little help from Jackson. Brunson was forced to work for his all night and scored 25 points on 23 shots, finishing -16 while on the court.

HOWEVER…Brunson had the final say, using his 23rd shot to drill what would be a game winning 3-ball over a tight contest by Nembhard to deliver the 114-113 win for the Knicks. The Pacers scored just four points over the final 5-plus minutes and two points over the final 3 minutes. Still, they had the lead until Brunson swiped it with five seconds left in the game.

For the growing horde of Tankathon mock draft refreshers, this was a perfect ending. But for the players in the fight, it was another close and frustrating finish as the Pacers are still searching for a win against a plus-.500 team while also trying to deliver Rick Carlisle his 1,000th win as an NBA coach.

After a sizzling hot first quarter in which the Pacers shot 70 percent from the field, they crashed back to 30 percent in the second quarter. Pascal Siakam scored 26 points on 22 shots but added 6 rebounds and 5 assists and was a bright spot offensively early in the fourth quarter. He even made all six of this free throws in the game.

But there were struggles offensively past Siakam and Nembhard. Benn Mathurin was 2 of 9 from three and the reserves struggled to get up shots with the Knicks often dipping into a zone, happy to let the Pacers shoot. Mathurin did have a nice stretch in the third quarter when he cracked the zone with some nice midrange flashes against the zone to score. But overall, when it came to closing time the buckets proved to hard to come by for the Pacers.

While Brunson remained his usual dastardly self for the Knicks, he had help from Mikal Bridges and Jordan Clarkson who combined to make 9 of 18 threes. But the big impact off the bench for NYK was from Tyler Kolek who finished with 16 points, 11 assists and 6 rebounds, just an overall menace.

Overall, this was a far more enjoyable basketball experience at the Fieldhouse than what we witnessed against the Wizards (low bar, but still) and while it seems the end of the calendar year is here, the Pacers season trudges on with seven games remaining before January 1, 2026.

The next two are on the road, starting in New Orleans where the Pacers face the Pelicans on Saturday night. The Pels have been a mess most of the season, but with some improved health have won their last three games over Portland, Chicago and Houston. Rookie Derick Queen has figured things out rather quickly and become a problem at center while the Pels start working Zion Williamson into the mix.

All of this to say, the Pacers remain underdogs in their quest to snap their three-game losing streak and deliver Coach Carlisle his milestone W.

Pacers vs. Pelicans

Where: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA

When: Saturday, December 20, 2025 - 7:00 p.m. ET

TV: FanDuel Sports Network

Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan

Odds: Pacers +2.5

Projected Starters

Pacers: Andrew Nembhard, Quenton Jackson, Bennedict Mathurin, Pascal Siakam, Jay Huff

Pelicans: Jeremiah Fears, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy III, Saddiq Bey, Derick Queen

Injuries

Pacers: Tony Bradley (thumb) - questionable, Kam Jones (G League) - out, Ben Sheppard (calf) - out, Aaron Nesmith (knee) - out, Obi Toppin (hammy) - out, Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles) - out

Pelicans: Dejounte Murray (Achilles) - out