Knicks at Pacers
THE STORY: The New York Knicks expect to be without Amar’e Stoudemire for the second straight game when they visit the Indiana Pacers on Sunday. Stoudemire sprained his left ankle against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday and missed Friday’s victory over the New Jersey Nets. There’s no urgency to rush the All-Star forward back into action with a playoff spot already secured. New York has won six straight games and has assured it won’t finish with a losing record for the first time since the 2000-01 season. The Knicks are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, a half-game ahead of the 76ers. Indiana recently wrapped up the eighth seed in the East and has won five of its last six games.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG, FSIN.
ABOUT THE PACERS (37-43): Indiana is finishing the season with a flourish after struggling for most of March. Beating the Boston Celtics on March 28 started the Pacers’ late surge and gave the squad a much-needed confidence boost. Point guard Darren Collison has been a spark as both a scorer and floor leader. He had 16 points and 10 assists in Friday’s 114-102 victory over the Atlanta Hawks for his second consecutive double-double. He had just two all season prior to the back-to-back fine efforts. Danny Granger scored 28 points and Roy Hibbert had 14 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double in four games. The Pacers finish the season Wednesday with a road game in Orlando.
ABOUT THE KNICKS (41-38): Carmelo Anthony has been playing superbly for the Knicks and had 25 points and 14 rebounds in Friday’s 116-93 rout of New Jersey. Anthony’s rebounding total was his highest since joining New York and he has made 12 3-point baskets over the past three games. Anthony has 46 3-pointers in 25 games with the Knicks after making just 42 in 50 games for Denver. Chauncey Billups also played well against New Jersey with 22 points. After visiting the Pacers, the Knicks close the regular season by hosting the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday and visiting the Boston Celtics on Wednesday. The game with the Celtics is interesting in that the result might decide whether the Knicks face Boston or the Miami Heat in the opening round of the playoffs.
WHO'S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Anthony is averaging 31.1 points and nine rebounds over the last seven outings. Collison is averaging 14.8 points and shooting 70.7 percent over the last six games. New York guard Landry Fields is averaging just 4.7 points the past six games. Indiana guard Brandon Rush is averaging just five points over the last three contests.
KEY STATISTIC: Both teams have been clicking on offense with New York averaging 116.7 points over its last six games and Indiana averaging 108.8 in its past half-dozen outings. The Pacers have scored 111 or more in three of the past five games and the Knicks have tallied 113 or more in five of the past six games.
SEASON SERIES: Indiana has won two of three meetings, including a 119-117 home win on March 15. The teams split in New York with the Knicks notching a 98-92 victory over Jan. 2 and the Pacers claiming a 106-93 win on March 13.
KEY INJURIES: NEW YORK: F Amar’e Stoudemire (ankle); G Andy Rautins (knee). INDIANA: None.
LAST WORD: “He’s got to be 100 percent. Playing a game would be better. If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. The rest will be good for him. But to get back into a little bit of a rhythm, if he could play a little bit of the last two games, that would be great.” – New York coach Mike D’Antoni on the prospects of Stoudemire seeing some action before the end of the regular season on Wednesday.