Knicks come up a quarter short

Knicks come up a quarter short

Michael Conroy/AP

Indiana Pacers utilize defense to outscore the Knicks 40-17 in the fourth quarter on Tuesday night during a come-from-behind win.

INDIANA PACERS 112, NY KNICKS 104

INDIANAPOLIS J.R. Smith reached his breaking point in the closing seconds of a potentially disastrous loss when he tossed Leandro Barbosa to the floor as if he were a plastic bottle being discarded into a recycling bin.

Yeah, I got a little fed up, Smith said. It happens.

The ugly scene and Smiths ejection were a fitting ending to what amounted to the worst quarter and worst loss for the Knicks under Mike Woodson. The Knicks imploded in every way imaginable Tuesday night in losing 112-104 to the Indiana Pacers, a team that overcame a 17-point third-quarter deficit.

We all have to take the blame for this, Tyson Chandler said.

The Knicks couldnt score, defend or control their emotions when it mattered and were outscored 40-17 in the fourth quarter of a game that was there for the taking.

Forty points in the fourth quarter is just too much, Carmelo Anthony said after the Knicks fell to 27-27 and saw th eir lead over Milwaukee for the Easts final playoff spot reduced to 11/2 games. They were able to get some steals, get some rebounds. They just outworked us.

The turnaround was dramatic. For three quarters, it was the Knicks outworking their hosts while running the offense through Anthony, who scored a season-high 39 points. Yet in the fourth, the Knicks suddenly turned passive and went long stretches without getting the ball to him.

We totally got away from our defensive strategy, said Woodson, who is 9-3 as head coach, including a 2-1 record against his hometown Pacers. It was a winnable game.

Smith (3-for-11) couldnt make a shot, but he grabbed nine rebounds and used a hard, clean foul to prevent Paul George from making a sure layup.

But when George stole Smiths careless inbounds pass and dunked with 18.5 seconds left, Smith had clearly had enough. He took his anger out on Barbosa, a veteran with an impeccable reputation . The two guards were pushing and shoving as they ran up court and just as Anthony was scoring on a putback with 10.7 seconds left, Smith was putting down Barbosa.

Veteran referee Joey Crawford wasted no time ejecting Smith and, after reviewing a replay, ruled it a Flagrant Foul 2. Afterward, as a small group of reporters surrounded his locker, Smith reached the conclusion that the media were nothing more than vultures looking to stir up controversy to sell papers.

It was just a tug-of-war game, Smith said of the incident. The refs didnt see it. Of course theyre going to see the end of it. But it happens. Its just the frustration of the game.

Woodson said he plans to talk to Smith about controlling his emotions, but the coach has more pressing issues. Amare Stoudemire and Jeremy Lin both missed their fifth game with a back injury and knee injury, respectively, so the Knicks lacked a proven second scorer and were devoid of solid point gu ard play.

Baron Davis, Toney Douglas and Mike Bibby shot a combined 3-for-15 with nine points, five assists and three turnovers. Besides Anthony, the other four starters Davis, Chandler, Iman Shumpert and Landry Fields scored a total of 38 points, although Fields scored 15 in 23 minutesand probably should have played more.

But stopping the Pacers was the Knicks main weakness after Steve Novaks 3-pointer with 55 seconds left in the third quarter made it 87-70. The Pacers suddenly came to life with Danny Granger scoring 14 of his 27 points in the fourth and George scoring 12 of his 18 points in the period. Granger had three 3-pointers during Indianas 20-2 run that put the Pacers up 94-91.

Anthony answered with a turnaround jumper but George scored seven straight points. Anthony again brought the Knicks back, scoring six points on two possessions, but with the Knicks trailing 101-99, Chandler was called for a questionable foul on Lou Amundson, who was the most aggressive player on the floor in the fourth. A traveling violation seemed like an appropriate call but instead Amundson went to the line and made two free throws. Indiana was 17-for-22 from the line in the fourth.

The Knicks managed to get to within 105-102 but Anthonys 3-pointer with 40 seconds left rimmed out. Granger then made one free throw and the Knicks were done when another three from Anthony rattled out.