Knicks at Pacers
The Indiana Pacers missed out on two straight opportunities to prove themselves on the road against fellow Eastern Conference contenders and are losers of five of their last seven games. The Pacers will try to get back on track at home against the NBA-worst New York Knicks on Tuesday before facing a gauntlet of Western Conference contenders.
Indiana could not find enough offense on the two-game trip and dropped a 117-98 decision at NBA-best Milwaukee on Thursday before falling 106-89 at Philadelphia on Sunday - a loss that knocked it back to fourth place in the East. "We've got to figure out a way to get ourselves back into that Pacer mode, where we're moving the ball, driving, kicking, making plays for each other," Pacers forward Thaddeus Young told reporters. "Right now, we're just out of sync and we just have to get back to it." The Knicks' latest slide reached six straight with a 103-92 setback on Sunday at a Minnesota Timberwolves' team that was missing All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns. Development is the key for New York the rest of the way, and second-year shooting guard Damyean Dotson was the best of the young squad with 26 points on Sunday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), FS Indiana
ABOUT THE KNICKS (13-54): Dotson slumped to five points on 2-of-12 shooting in 33 minutes at home against Sacramento on Saturday but was a different player the next night, knocking down 10-of-19 from the floor and adding six rebounds and six assists while going over 20 points for the first time this month. Rookie center Mitchell Robinson made his mark on the defensive end in Minnesota, blocking five shots while adding 10 rebounds and eight points in 33 minutes off the bench. Robinson made up for the lackluster play of veteran center DeAndre Jordan, who went 1-of-8 from the floor in his third game since returning from an ankle injury.
ABOUT THE PACERS (42-25): Indiana plays its next seven games after hosting New York against teams in the top eight in the West, with Denver (twice), Oklahoma City (twice) and trips to Portland, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors thrown in the mix. The Pacers placed only three scorers in double figures on Sunday while shooting 37.3 percent from the floor and 59.5 percent from the free-throw line in the loss but still believe they can compete against top-tier opponents. "If we're the team that we think we are, these are the kind of games we've got to win," center Myles Turner told reporters. "I think we're more than capable of winning games like this, so we've just got to do it."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pacers PF Domantas Sabonis (ankle) returned from a five-game absence on Sunday and went 1-of-7 from the floor in 20 minutes off the bench.
2. Knicks PG Frank Ntilikina (groin) missed the last 19 games and was ruled out for the remainder of the three-game road trip.
3. Indiana took the first three meetings by an average of 10.7 points.