Immanuel Quickley and Derrick Rose spearheaded a fourth quarter rally after the starting five had dug an 11-point hole and the Knicks finally won a home game, 92-84, over the Pacers on Monday at the Garden.
With the maligned starting backcourt of Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier buried on the bench for the game’s final 17 minutes, the Knicks responded with terrific defense as coach Tom Thibodeau mixed and matched and found a potent closing unit. The Knicks held the Pacers to 10 fourth-quarter points as they shot 2 of 20.
Quickley, who has been alit the last six games after a slow start, finished with 16 points and made all four of his 3-pointers. Rose scored 14 points as the Knicks bottled up the Pacers in the fourth quarter.
The Knicks (8-6) moved to 3-4 at the Garden, breaking a four-game home losing streak as Quickley dribbled out the clock and skipped around the court.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Rose came out and Quickley ran the point on his own and kept the Knicks offense humming.
A Quickley 3 gave the Knicks the lead for good at 83-82 with 4:50 left. Rose came back in to share the backcourt with Rose and nailed a jumper for an 85-82 lead with 4:00 left.
It looked like déjà vu again with the starting five ready to cost another game.
The starters didn’t come out again for the third quarter with any crispness. They were outscored by 10 points by the time Thibodeau dug into the bench with Taj Gibson midway through the quarter but only after the Pacers had built a 11-point lead 67-56. It continued an alarming third-quarter trend for the starters in the past five games.
The Knicks proceeded to chip away at the deficit though Julius Randle (5 of 15, 11 points, five turnovers) struggled.
With 1:35 left in the third, Randle threw the ball out of bounds — yards from the intended recipient Rose, who had cut in the other direction. It was Randle’s fifth turnover and he got booed as he departed for Obi Toppin.
In the fourth quarter, Rose and the bench brigade got to work and Quickley’s 3-pointer with 8:50 left tied the score at 74. He did his skipping-down-the-court celebration and the Pacers called timeout.
By then, Thibodeau had inserted Randle to play in a smallball lineup with Toppin, Rose, Quickley and Alec Burks as four starters sat.
Despite a brutal first half from slumping RJ Barrett, the Knicks were within 49-48 at halftime. Walker got rolling early in getting to the rack and the starters showed improved ball movement.
In an attempt to jump-start the maligned starting five, Thibodeau installed more set plays in practice Sunday to create more ball movement and that was evident early as it created lanes for Walker, who was 6 of 7 in the half for a team-high 12 points. But he didn’t sustain it in the second half.
The Knicks couldn’t gain separation because Barrett’s recent wayward play continued and he missed all six of his shots, including three 3-point bricks. But Barrett hit a pair of big 3-pointers in the second half and finished with 12 points on 4 of 13 shooting.