Knicks bounce back, roll over Pacers

New York, NY – Carmelo Anthony scored a game-high 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the New York Knicks downed the Indiana Pacers, 88-76, Sunday at Madison Square Garden.

J.R. Smith followed with 13 points and seven boards and Raymond Felton chipped in 11 points and eight assists to help the Knicks bounce back from their first loss of the season on Friday against Memphis.

"I thought we were good throughout the whole game defensively," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. "There's going to be nights when we struggle to score the ball. That's any NBA team."

Paul George led the Pacers with 20 points, while David West donated 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds for Indiana, which has dropped three of its last four games.

"We gotta get more shots," George said of the Pacers' offense. "We gotta get better looks, more attempts and take care of the ball."

Anthony carried the Knicks over the first 12 minutes of the game, pouring in 12 points in the first quarter to help his squad build a 21-18 edge heading into the second stanza.

The Pacers struggled offensively in the second, as they made just 3-of-16 shots from the field and turned the ball over seven times, leading to eight points from the Knicks.

Despite the poor shooting, Indiana trailed by just two near the midpoint of the frame, but the Knicks ripped off a 13-3 run to take a 39-27 lead with under two minutes left in the half.

New York carried a 41-30 advantage into the locker room and led by double- digits for most of the third quarter, but a Sam Young 3-pointer brought the Pacers within 63-54 with 3:27 left in the frame.

Rasheed Wallace answered with the Knicks' final five points of the quarter, then scored the team's first four of the fourth to press the lead to 72-58 less than two minutes into the final frame.

New York led by double-digits the rest of the way en route to the victory.

Game Notes

Knicks guard Jason Kidd received stitches on his head early in the first quarter, but returned later in the game. He finished with three points and two assists ... Indiana shot 39.4 percent from the field, while New York shot 36.7 percent ... Wallace finished with nine points and seven rebounds for New York.