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Granger rallies Pacers over Knicks

Apr 4, 2012 - 3:06 AM Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) - Danny Granger scored 11 points during Indiana's big surge to open the fourth quarter, lifting the Indiana Pacers to a 112-104 victory over the New York Knicks.

Granger finished with 27 points and grabbed seven rebounds, Paul George added 18 and eight, and Leandro Barbosa and Dahntay Jones netted 12 points apiece for the Pacers, who outscored the Knicks, 40-17, in the last quarter. They have won three of their last four.

Indiana now holds the third seed in the East after the Orlando Magic fell 102-95 in Detroit on Tuesday. The Pacers hold a 1 1/2-game lead over Boston in fourth and a 1/2-game lead over the Magic in fifth.

Carmelo Anthony poured in a season-high 39 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the way for the Knicks, while Landry Fields chipped in 15 points. Tyson Chandler recorded a double-double with 12 points and 14 boards. New York has dropped two of its last three games.

"Forty points in the fourth quarter is just too much," admitted Anthony after the loss. "They were able to get some steals, get some rebounds. They just outworked us."

New York remains in the eighth position in the East, holding a 1 1/2-game advantage over the Milwaukee Bucks for the final playoff spot.

After trailing by as many as 17 in the second half, Indiana opened the fourth on a 22-4 spurt, as Granger connected on a three-pointer to tie the game at 91, and added another shortly after to press the margin to 94-91 with 5:45 left in the contest.

Anthony's jumper brought the Knicks back within one, but seven straight from George made it a 101-93 contest with 2:47 remaining.

Anthony again answered, scoring the next eight points for his team to bring the Knicks within 103-101 with 1:47 left in the contest.

But the Knicks wouldn't score another field goal until the closing seconds and the Pacers went 7-of-8 from the charity stripe over the final 1:25 to hold on for the victory.

"I'm very, very proud of how they didn't quit on the game," said Pacers head coach Frank Vogel about his team's resiliency. "We were down big, made an adjustment and went with the small lineup and man, did they respond."

The teams were tied at 31 after one quarter of play and the Pacers opened the second on a 9-2 surge, but triples from J.R. Smith and Steve Novak trimmed the edge to 40-39 just three minutes into the second.

The Knicks finished the half on an 11-2 sprint to take a 59-51 lead into the locker room.

Anthony tallied the first seven of the third for New York to extend the lead to 66-54, and the Knicks maintained an 87-72 lead heading into the fourth.

Game Notes

New York will travel to Orlando on Thursday, while the Pacers head to Washington on Wednesday...New York's Smith was ejected after being called for a flagrant two with 10.7 second left in the game after tossing an Indiana player to the court while fighting for a rebound.