Composed Pacers win crazy game against New York Knicks on newsy day
Overtime capped off a busy day in the Pacers orbit.
NEW YORK – What an eventful day at Madison Square Garden.
The Pacers and Knicks were set to face off in The World's Most Famous Arena for the first time since their Eastern Conference Finals battle last season, and that alone made this game special. The MSG setting pushes players to be their best.
"It's always a special place, man. I think everyone that comes in here, they try to play their best game. This is where it's at. The eyes are there. There's a lot of people out there watching," Pacers All-Star forward Pascal Siakam said postgame. "And I think obviously the previous battles we had with this team, it always feels good to come out here and get a win. So yeah, a special place."
Tony East
That was the setting the Pacers found themselves during an eventful day. They were 12 hours removed from learning devastating news about their teammate, Johnny Furphy. The newest Pacers, Ivica Zubac and Kobe Brown, finally arrived with the team Monday night, and Zubac met with reporters via a zoom call on Tuesday afternoon. Brown debuted — and played well! — Tuesday night.
In the center of it all was Pacers-Knicks – typically a dynamite game anyway, but this time with added post Eastern Conference Finals stakes. Several players were missing from last year's series due to injuries or transactions, but the emotions were still obvious.
The game itself was nearly record-setting in its dramatics. The Pacers and Knicks traded the lead back-and-forth 39 times, which approached the NBA high of 43. Not once did one of the two teams lead by more than nine points, and that nine-point margin came late in an overtime period.
Naturally a tug-of-war game like that needed five extra minutes to decide the winner. And the Pacers came out on top, winning a wild OT game in MSG for the first time since... Last year, when they did so in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. This win was less meaningful and less historic, yet still momentous in a rivalry.
"Fantastic," head coach Rick Carlisle said of his team's composure throughout the night. "This was a really important game for us with the season that we've had. You know, this environment, the opponent, our guys just had a great collective spirit and collective will tonight," he added later.
It was a total team effort from the Pacers, who were led by 30 points from Siakam and 24 from Andrew Nembhard. In total, though, eight players scored in double figures. And the Pacers don't win without Ben Sheppard's rebounding, T.J. McConnell's second-half flurry, Quenton Jackson's energy, or Aaron Nesmith's pep.
They also don't win without tightening up on defense in the overtime period. After Karl-Anthony Towns hit two free throws to cap a three-point Knicks comeback in the final six seconds of regulation, momentum appeared to be in New York's hands. Yet the Pacers held the hosting team scoreless for more than four minutes to start the overtime period, and that allowed the Pacers to take their largest lead of the night.
"Just staying solid, staying grounded, just trusting each other," Jackson said of the team's defense in overtime. "Just guarding our yard, I think we did a good job at the end of just sitting down, being able to guard our yard."
The final score was 137-134, and the Pacers now have 14 wins. They've beaten the second, third, and eighth best teams in the Eastern Conference in the past month. And while it was a noteworthy win in a rough season for the Pacers, it was also the end of their noteworthy day. There's much more to get to.
The Johnny Furphy latest
If you missed it, Johnny Furphy officially has a torn ACL in his right knee. A scan confirmed the injury on Monday, and his 2025-26 season is over.
It's a devastating injury for Furphy and the Pacers. He had grown into a starter this season and would have been an important piece down the stretch of the ongoing campaign, both to evaluate as a fit next to the team's best players and to develop with more reps in a losing season.
That won't happen now. Furphy ends his 2025-26 campaign with averages of 5.1 points and 4.4 rebounds per game across 35 appearances.
"Not the exact timeline, you hear figures of anywhere from eight to 12 months," Carlisle said of a possible timeline for Furphy. That range would allow for Furphy to return in the middle of 2026-27 but, at best, not be ready for training camp. "He's very young and he's bounced back from a lot of other ailments here and there. So no doubt that he's going to make a full recovery. But whatever the necessary timetable is, that's what it'll be."
Pacers introduce Ivica Zubac
New Pacers center Ivica Zubac met with local Indy media via zoom early in the afternoon on Tuesday. It was his first time doing so after his trade to the Pacers last week.
It's been a hectic few days for the Croatian big man. He and his wife Kristina welcomed a child on the day of the trade deadline, and Zubac was dealt just hours before 3 p.m. ET that day. He got a heads up that he might be on the move, so the trade itself wasn't out of nowhere to Zubac. But it still came with some initial shock.
Zubac was visiting with his pediatrician and figuring out how the bottle warmer works when Clippers president of basketball operation Lawrence Frank showed up on his phone. He knew right away what that meant. "I was not holding a baby, but I was in a baby room," Zubac shared.
Also of note from his introductory presser —
Zubac on how he'll fit with the Pacers: "I think this team is kind of in need of a big paint presence. The rebounder, screener, just a guy who can punish the mismatches, punish the smalls [and] cross matches. I'm going to be talking a lot on the defensive end, I'm a big communicator on that end. So I think there's a lot of areas that I'm going to fit right in and I'm looking forward to stepping out there."
Zubac on what he hopes to accomplish the rest of this season: "Just kind of learning the habits of my teammates, what they like to do on the court. Learning the defensive coverages, learning the offensive playbook, learning the different terminology than what I had before, and just getting adjusted to that pace of the game. Going to use it for conditioning. There's already some stuff that I talked about with coach that's going to be a lot different for me from a spacing standpoint. So there's a lot of stuff and there's more than enough time to get ready for the next year."
Zubac on his ankle injury: "Yeah, I did miss some time earlier this year. Came back much sooner than anticipated, and [my ankle] hasn't been 100% since then. Still got some swelling in there, some soreness. So we're going to try to get that to 100% and figure it out. And I'll go out there when I'm fully recovered and ready to play."
That ankle injury is both old and new news. Zubac played in 15 games for the Clippers between January 3 and February 2 since returning from his late-December absence. It was originally reported as a Grade 2 left ankle sprain, an injury that usually takes multiple weeks to heal. Zubac returned in less than two weeks, so it is reasonable that he wasn't 100% when playing even if he was healthy enough to be active and get a normal minutes load.
Before Pacers-Knicks, Carlisle discussed what he needs to see before putting his new starting center on the court. "Health. I don't want to get too much into it because I'm not a doctor or a therapist or a trainer. But we're gonna take whatever the necessary time is. He's had a couple of days here to get looked at and treated, and so on. We'll move forward how we should."
Kobe Brown debuts
Kobe Brown, the other player the Pacers received from the Clippers, is not dealing with any injuries and was able to play in Pacers-Knicks. The third-year wing became needed after Furphy went down and Jarace Walker missed the game with an illness.
It was a quick adjustment for Brown, who landed in New York on Monday night. The three hour time difference between Indianapolis and Los Angeles complicated his sleep schedule in the middle of all the travel, and he hasn't had much time to prepare.
He was lifting in the Clippers practice facility when he found out about the trade and was surprised since the move happened so close to the deadline. It's been a chaotic week ever since, but Zubac has been one of Brown's important veterans as a pro. That relationship has been helpful during this process.
His first opportunity to make his mark with the Pacers came in Madison Square Garden. And it was a familiar story for one former player with the Pacers: Rick Carlisle.
In early December of 1987, Carlisle had just signed with the Knicks. His time with the team could be measured in hours rather than days. Yet he had a home game on December 1 with little time to adjust, and the current Pacers head coach put together an excellent performance with 21 points (a career high) and six assists.
"In many cases, [getting thrown in a rotation with a new team] is a very liberating type of situation. I can speak from personal experience in this building," Carlisle recalled. "I got signed on one afternoon, did one shootaround here with the Knicks and had the best game I ever had that night just because, you know, the adrenaline and all that kind of stuff. And foul trouble. This is a great opportunity for [Brown]."
Brown didn't know that story Carlisle shared, but his Pacers debut followed a similar script. He was impactful, finishing with eight points and six rebounds (two offensive) in the win. He was +13, a team high, and took on important defensive roles at the four spot. He subbed in often during rebounding situations.
"He's great. I think he's one of those guys that every time the ball goes up, you feel like you can get the rebound whenever he wants to," Siakam said of Brown postgame. "He's strong, he plays hard, seems like a good dude. I think on the team, it's always needed to have those guys that can come out there and give everything that they have."
Brown and the Pacers will play against the Nets tonight in Brooklyn. The game will almost certainly look different, but you can expect Brown's effort to look the same.
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