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Pacers hand Knicks fourth straight loss with OT win

Nov 21, 2013 - 5:43 AM New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Paul George hit three free throws with 5.2 seconds remaining to force overtime, then dropped in nine points during the extra session as the Indiana Pacers left Madison Square Garden with a startling 103-96 win over the reeling New York Knicks.

George finished with 35 points along with five steals as the now 10-1 Pacers bounced back from their lone loss of the young season, a 110-94 setback at Chicago on Saturday. George Hill came up with a big night as well for Indiana, scoring 18 of his 23 points during the second half and OT while adding eight rebounds.

"It wasn't even about me looking for shots," George said. "I just wanted to create and get the best shot for us."

The Knicks, meanwhile, were dealt a season-high fourth straight defeat and sixth in a row at home in large part to a critical mistake in the final seconds, as Iman Shumpert fouled George on a 3-point attempt while clinging to an 89-86 lead.

"Iman being a young player, it was just a foul that we didn't need at that particular time," Knicks head coach Mike Woodson said.

Carmelo Anthony had 30 points and 18 rebounds in New York's latest loss, with J.R. Smith contributing 21 points off the bench and Beno Udrih posting season bests of 19 points and eight rebounds.

The tightly contested game saw four lead changes in the last four minutes of regulation, the last coming when Udrih canned a short jumper that put New York up 87-86 with 1:21 to go. Two Anthony free throws in the waning seconds had appeared to seal it for the Knicks, but Shumpert got a piece of George's elbow as the Pacers set up the final shot to give Indiana renewed life.

George calmly sank all three bonus tries to knot the score at 89-89.

Anthony was contacted by George while attempting a spinner in the lane that missed the mark as the buzzer sounded, but the play stood and the teams prepared for overtime.

It was all Indiana from that moment on. George got things rolling with a tie- breaking 3-pointer and recorded the Pacers' first seven points of overtime as his team opened up a 97-91 lead with 1:30 left. Anthony hit a jumper on the ensuing possession, but the Knicks didn't make another basket until Smith's late triple with the outcome already decided.

New York was in front for most of the way and owned a 75-69 advantage with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, before an 10-0 run highlighted by 3- pointers from Hill and C.J. Watson sent Indiana back ahead. The Knicks countered with treys from Udrih and Smith to regain the upper hand at 81-79, and the game continued to be nip-and-tuck over the rest of regulation.

The Pacers overcame a sluggish first quarter and a particularly slow start out of the gates. Indiana misfired on its first six field goal attempts as New York raced out to a 13-0 lead five minutes in, with Andrea Bargnani accounting for the final five points of the run.

Indiana was able to get back on track later in the period, scoring seven straight points to trim the deficit to 15-11, but shot just 25 percent for the opening frame to trail by a 19-14 count entering the second quarter.

Indiana pulled to within one when George knocked down a jumper with 7:38 left in the half, but a pair of Anthony buckets highlighted a 7-0 surge that put the Knicks up by a 31-23 score. The All-Star forward had 17 points, 13 of which came in the second quarter, to help give New York a 42-37 edge at intermission.

New York held a six-point differential two minutes into the third quarter, but the Pacers ripped off seven straight points to grab their first lead of the night at 48-47 with 7:08 remaining in the stanza.

The game continued to be close the rest of regulation, with neither team up by more than six points.

Game Notes

The teams were meeting for the first time since last season's Eastern Conference semifinals, in which the Pacers prevailed in six games ... Udrih, starting in place of an injured Raymond Felton (hip), had just eight points total in his five previous games played this season ... Knicks forward Metta World Peace returned from a two-game absence caused by a sore left knee, but had just two points in 16 minutes ... David West posted a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds for Indiana ... The Pacers went 28-of-36 from the foul line, compared to a 14-of-17 success rate for the Knicks.