Knicks flop late again as troubling pattern continues in loss to Pacers
But for the third time in the past four games, those starters were pummeled when it mattered most and the Knicks lost Sunday to the Pacers, 132-121.
Karl-Anthony Towns sat with his feet in the ice bucket, staring into nothing with a look of disappointment all over his face.
He was locked into this pose for several minutes before verbally expressing his dour mood.
“This is my 10th year in the NBA,” Towns said. “Last year was a year where I had a tremendous amount of experience garnered going to the Western Conference Finals, and I know when we were in Game 80, 81, 82 against the Suns, we looked back at those Game 1, Game 4, you looked back at the ones you gave away that put you in a better position whether it’s to be in the No. 1 seed, No. 2 seed, No. 3 seed, or gives us a chance to choose our destiny. That’s why I’m disappointed.
“Experience has taught me a lot. This is just as important as Game 82. And we just didn’t come out with a win and that’s what’s so disappointing to me.”
It’s still exceedingly early in the campaign, but Sunday’s 132-121 loss to the Pacers was the first time coach Tom Thibodeau and Towns didn’t mostly brush it aside as part of a learning curve. For the third time in their past four games, the Knicks (4-5) were pummeled in the fourth quarter. They gave up way too many 3-pointers, allowing the Pacers to knock down 21 from deep while the Knicks hit just seven.