Knicks’ Defense Recovers In Victorious Home Opener

Home-cooked revenge turned out to be the perfect pick-me-up for the New York Knicks.

In their first home game of the 2024-25 season, the Knicks entertained fans with the efficiency they’ve come to expected from this anticipated campaign, downing the Indiana Pacers by a 123-98 final at Madison Square Garden on Friday night at Madison Square Garden. Friday marked the first meeting between the Knicks and Pacers since the latter ended New York’s prior playoff run last spring.

Both Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns each shined in their maiden Manhattan voyages, contributing to the smooth sailing with brilliant performances: with 21 points, Bridges began to douse concerns over his shooting with an 8-of-12 tally (making him 15-of-20 over the last game-and-a-half) despite early foul trouble while Towns tallied a 21-point, 15-rebound double-double (along with two blocks).

Four Knicks starters had at least 20 points, reaching such a landmark for the first time since last Christmas: Josh Hart joined Towns in the double-double brotherhood with 20 points and 10 rebounds despite apparent hamstring issues that required and early locker room visit while Jalen Brunson led all scorers with 26. All that and more allowed the Knicks (1-1) to lead by as much as 33 and that advantage never shrunk past 16 in the second half.

But after enduring a historic barrage of triples from defending champion Boston on Tuesday, the Knicks’ defense might’ve been the most impressive development: New York limited the Pacers to only three successful sinks from beyond the arc over the first three periods on Friday. Pacers franchise face Tyrese Haliburton was held scoreless on eight attempts from the field, all but one taken from three-point range. It’s just the third time Haliburton has been held scoreless since his NBA career began in 2020. The Knicks also turned turnovers into tallies, getting 27 points off takeaways after totaling just two in Boston.

With Haliburton held in check, the defending Eastern Conference finalist Pacers (1-1) were led by 20 points in relief for Bennedict Mathurin. Indiana, last season’s top scoring team, was held to double-figures on the jumbotron just once in the standard 82 last year.

This was the Pacers’ lone visit to MSG this season, as the latter pair of three meetings will be held at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the first slated for Nov. 10.

In the meantime, the Knicks wrap up an early Eastern Conference finalist gauntlet on Monday when the Cleveland Cavaliers come to visit (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG).

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