Towns, Brunson help Knicks roll to a 123-98 victory over the Pacers in their home opener

NEW YORK — Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points and 15 rebounds in his Knicks home debut, Jalen Brunson scored 26 points and New York routed the Indiana Pacers 123-98 on Friday night.

Mikal Bridges also scored 21 points and Josh Hart had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who bounced back powerfully after they were blown out 132-109 in Boston on Tuesday in the NBA season opener.

Indiana All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton was scoreless and went 0 for 7 on 3-pointers, falling to 1 for 16 behind the arc this season. Reserve Bennedict Mathurin scored 20 points.

Pacers: Indiana had one of the best offenses in league history last season and set an NBA playoff record by shooting 67.1% from the field in its last trip to Madison Square Garden for a Game 7 victory last season in the Eastern Conference semifinals, so nights like Friday figure to be rare.

Knicks: This was how the Knicks hoped to look on both ends of the floor after the trades for Towns and Bridges. Towns’ ability to make 3-pointers had the floor spaced nicely for the guards to drive, and with Bridges, OG Anunoby and Hart on the perimeter, the Pacers struggled to get into any kind of offense.

The Knicks led by one with 7:29 left in the first half when the Pacers brought four starters back into the game at the same time Brunson returned. New York outscored Indiana 25-10 from there behind six points and four assists from Brunson to lead 61-45 at the break.

After allowing an NBA record-tying 29 3-pointers in the loss in Boston, the Knicks held the Pacers to 3 for 30 (10%) behind the arc.

The Pacers host Philadelphia on Sunday in their home opener and the Knicks host Cleveland on Monday.

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