Quickley, Grimes lead Knicks past Pacers, 138-129

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Immanuel Quickley scored 39points, one shy of his career high, and Quentin Grimes had acareer-high 36 in the New York Knicks’ 138-129 victory over theIndiana Pacers on Wednesday night.

Obi Toppin added 32 points and the Knicks shot 52%. MitchellRobinson finished with 14 points and 16 rebounds.

It was Robinson’s game that most impressed Knicks coach TomThibodeau.

“Mitch had a monster game,” Thibodeau said. “The rebounding withMitchell was unbelievable.”

Thibodeau said this was likely Grimes’ best game of theseason.

“He’s shooting the ball with a lot of confidence,” Thibodeausaid. “He’s flying around the the floor, guarding people.. Hisconfidence is growing game by game. They are rhythm shots andthat’s what I like about the way we are playing right now. We arecreating rhythm for each other. When you play like that good thingswill come from that.”

Jalen Smith scored 19 points for Indiana, T.J. McConnell had 18and Bennedict Mathurin 17. McConnell had 12 assists.

The Knicks had a 52-37 rebounding edge.

The game went back and forth for much of the fourth quarter.With it tied at 120, Toppin started a 7-0 run with two dunks andGrimes added a 3-pointer.

“Obi ran the floor well and got us some easy buckets,” Thibodeausaid. “He’s hard to match up with what he can do. He continued toplay to his strengths and his teammates’ strengths.”

With New York leading 97-91 in the third quarter, the Knicksused a 8-0 run, helped by a flagrant foul call, to take a 105-91lead. The Pacers ended the third quarter with a 7-0 spurt.

The Knicks shot nearly 52% to take a 70-67 lead at halftime.Toppin scored 19 of his points in the first half. Indiana shot 50%in the first half.

After the Pacers took a 7-4 lead, the Knicks reeled off 17unanswered point to grab control. The Pacers tied it twice late inthe second quarter.

“We were down 14 points after five minutes,” Pacers coach RickCarlisle said. “The second unit did a good job getting us back intothe game. This is a great experience for the young guys thatstarted. We got to learn from it as a group.”

McConnnell’s play coming off the bench helped the Pacers to getback in the game. “I run out of adjectives to describe hiscompetitive excellence,” Carlisle said.

The Pacers and Knicks close the regular season in New York onSunday. The Knicks have won the first three meetings between thetwo teams.

“We have to look to New Orleans now,” Thibodeau said of Fridaynight game. “We want to play our best going into thepostseason.”

TIP-INS

Knicks: With the No. 5 seed playoff spot clinched, Jalen Brunsonsat out to rest his right hand. RJ Barrett missed his secondconsecutive game with an illness. … Julian Randle, who leads theKnicks with 25.1 points per game, continued to sit out with a leftankle sprain injury. Randle injured his angle March 29 and it’suncertain whether he will be ready to play when playoff series withNo. 4 seed Cleveland begins.

Pacers: With the Pacers’ slim playoff hopes ending Sunday,Indiana leaned heavily on its younger players and reserves. TyreseHaliburton missed his fifth consecutive game with an ankle injury.Myles Turner missed his sixth game in a row with left ankle andlower backs soreness. … Gabe York made his first appearance of theseason for the Pacers. York, who signed a two-way contract lastweek was called up from the Fort Wayne Ants. York scored ninepoints.

UP NEXT

Knicks: At New Orleans on Friday night.

Pacers: Hosts Detroit on Friday night.