Pacers fall behind early, come up short against Knicks 92-85

INDIANAPOLIS — Marcus Morris scored 28 points to lead the New York Knicks to a 92-85 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night.

Julius Randle had 16 points and a season-best 18 rebounds, and Taj Gibson added 10 points and seven rebounds to lead the Knicks (14-36), who snapped a two-game skid and won in the series after losing seven straight.

Domantas Sabonis had 25 points and eight rebounds, Myles Turner had 12 points and six rebounds, and Jeremy Lamb added nine points for the Pacers (31-18), who have lost two of three games.

After Sabonis made a free throw to tie the game at 80 with 6:11 remaining, New York scored eight straight to go ahead 88-80 after Morris’ jumper with 1:54 to go.

The Knicks put together a 9-0 run in the first quarter and a 9-2 run in the second to build an early lead. Kevin Knox II made a layup at the end of a 7-0 run in the second quarter to put New York ahead 33-16 with 9:06 to play in the first half.

TIP INS

Knicks: New York played without point guard Elfrid Payton, who was suspended one game by the NBA for shoving Jae Crowder of Memphis while he was attempting a shot Wednesday. … New York outrebounded the Pacers 57-34. … The Knicks finished 17 of 23 on free throws.

Pacers: Indiana was 0 for 8 on 3-pointers in the first half. … Victor Oladipo scored seven points on 2-of-14 shooting in his second game back.

UP NEXT

Knicks: At Cleveland on Monday.

Pacers: Host Dallas on Monday.