Pacers 121, Knicks 107: Scenes from Elfrid Payton, the death of fun

The Knicks played one phenomenal half of basketball Wednesday night against the Pacers. Sadly, it was the first half, and the Pacers are a good basketball team that knows how to make adjustments.

The Knicks carried a 66-61 lead into halftime, but the mood soured at the break when it was announced that rookie Immanuel Quickley would miss the remainder of the game after suffering a hip pointer.

Quickley took over for ineffective starting PG Elfrid Payton early and provided a spark once again for the Knicks. Once Quickley left the game, it was all downhill from there. Elf was virtually unplayable, and the Knicks’ offensive stalled big-time.

The biggest saving grace throughout was the strong play of RJ Barrett. The second-year man looked like an All-Star in the first half, dropping 20 points on a perfect 8-8 shooting. He would only finish 11-15 for 26 points, however — as if that’s bad — to go along with 8 rebounds, 5 assists and just 1 turnover.

Obi Toppin had a weird night, finishing 3-12 from the field — though a very nice 3-7 from beyond the arc — and threw an absolute dime to RJ.

Julius Randle played a tremendous first half of team basketball, but mostly reverted to his usual bullshit as the Pacers pulled away.

Alex will have the recap. Have a good weekend.