Pacers 109, Knicks 100: Scenes from a (slightly) disappointing preseason defeat

The New York Knicks blew a fourth-quarter lead and lost to the Indiana Pacers, 109-100. It’s still preseason, of course, and it wasn’t like the starters blew the game, but it was a bit sad to see a potentially fun lineup of Miles McBride, Immanuel Quickley, Cam Reddish, Obi Toppin and Isaiah Hartenstein fail to live up to the hype.

The starting lineup wasn’t exactly gangbusters, except for RJ Barrett (21 points on 7-14 shooting, 4 points, 3 assists) and Julius Randle (13 points on 5-10 shooting, 8 rebounds, 5 assists). RJ wasn’t hitting from deep (1-5 from three) but he lived at the rim and the free-throw line (6-7 from the stripe).

Randle, meanwhile, was moving the ball and hitting from deep (3-6 from three). It was great to see.

As for the bench, they struggled mightily with Derrick Rose resting. Immanuel Quickley (4-18 shooting) was dominated by rookie lotto pick Bennedict Mathurin. Cam Reddish (3-10 shooting) continued his string of poor offensive play. Get well soon, Quentin Grimes.

The Knicks will be back on Friday night for the preseason finale. Until then, enjoy yourselves.