Pacers 111, Knicks 98: Scenes from a game that sucked from the opening tip-off

The Knicks got smacked around from the opening tip Wednesday night, dropping the game to the Indiana Pacers by a shot of 111-98. The Pacers started the game on an 11-0 run, and things didn’t get much better from there.

New York actually cut the deficit to three midway through the third quarter, but the Pacers answered with a quick run out of a timeout to retake control. The situation repeated itself in the fourth quarter, only this time the Knicks cut the deficit to two points before the Pacers called timeout and regrouped. It was that kind of night.

RJ Barrett continued to make his case for the Knicks’ best player, scoring a team-high 23 points. It wasn’t his most efficient night — only 8-20 shooting — but three of those attempts came late in a game that was already out of reach.

Pacers center Myles Turner obliterated New York from beyond the arc, hitting 7-10 threes. Between Turner and backup center Goga Bitadze (2-4 from three), the Pacers bigs damn near doubled up the Knicks as a team, who shot a paltry 5-24 from downtown.

Recap to come. Losing streaks suck.