Knicks at Pacers
The Indiana Pacers got an unexpected day off on the road and looked plenty refreshed in taking down the top team in the Eastern Conference on Friday. The Pacers will try to carry that momentum back home when they host the floundering New York Knicks on Sunday.
Indiana's scheduled game at New Orleans on Wednesday was postponed due to a leak in the arena roof, giving the team three full days off before it went into Boston, built a 26-point lead and fended off a late rally in a 97-91 triumph over the Celtics. "I thought our guys showed toughness from the start," Pacers head coach Nate McMillan told reporters. "We knew (the Celtics) were going to come back and give us a shot, and they did in the third quarter. Our guys just hung in there. They kept their composure, started to execute, move the ball, and knock down some shots." The Knicks aren't knocking down enough shots lately and failed to reach 100 points in any of their last five games -- all losses. New York shot 39.8 percent from the floor and was blown out 113-88 at Toronto on Thursday in its first game since losing All-Star forward Kristaps Porzingis to a season-ending knee injury.
TV: 5 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), FS Indiana
ABOUT THE KNICKS (23-33): New York was involved in a three-team trade prior to Thursday's deadline that brought in 21-year-old point guard Emmanuel Mudiay from the Denver Nuggets. Mudiay is expected to compete for minutes with Trey Burke and rookie Frank Ntilikina as the team focuses on developing talent the rest of the season in the wake of Porzingis' injury. "We're not going to try to do something short-term to jeopardize our opportunity to build (something) sustainable," general manager Scott Perry told reporters. "We're going to continue to add talent, we're going to continue to make moves that are very prudent."
ABOUT THE PACERS (31-25): Indiana is building something sustainable as well as it develops around All-Star guard Victor Oladipo, who led the way with 35 points on 15-of-29 shooting, 10 rebounds and five steals at Boston. "He's been doing that all year for us, he's been great," point guard Cory Joseph told the team's website. "As you know, he's an All-Star. We're going to need him to continue to do that." Oladipo got even more rest than his teammates after sitting out a loss to Washington on Monday with an illness and he reached 35 points in two of his last three games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. New York C Enes Kanter sat out Thursday after undergoing oral surgery but is expected back on Saturday.
2. Joseph is 2-of-13 from the floor in two games since replacing Darren Collison (knee surgery) in the starting lineup.
3. The home team took each of the first two meetings, with Indiana grabbing a 115-97 win in its building on Dec. 4.