With Carmelo Anthony resting, Kristaps Porzingis rehabbing and Jose Calderon mending, Kurt Rambis’ Knicks figured to be road kill for the eighth-seeded Pacers in the midst of a crazed playoff race.
Instead, the Knicks forgot to roll over and die. Instead there was Sasha Vujacic taking an inbounds pass from Arron Afflalo with 17.2 seconds left, dribbling to the left wing and hoisting a potential game-winning 3-pointer.
The ball crashed off the rim, no good, and the pitifully lethargic Pacers survived an improbable battle from the Knicks, 92-87, before a packed and revved-up Garden crowd Sunday night.
Who would’ve thunk it?
Rambis started an expansion-like lineup, and it gritted its way into contention until the final seconds and erased all of an 18-point third-quarter deficit. Without Anthony, Afflalo tried to take over and scored 13 of his 15 points in the final period and had a late 3-pointer wiped out after an official’s review. Vujacic added a team-high 21 points but couldn’t sink the big one.
“We were really determined to win the game,’’ Vujacic said. “Consistency has been the biggest problem for us. We showed we have heart and in the second half we played with a lot of pride.’’
Vujacic had a chance to be the hero but couldn’t find Afflalo open in the corner — that was the designed play — after the inbounds and decided to try to create a shot.
“It was so congested over there, I couldn’t find anybody,’’ Vujacic said. “I don’t like running away from the responsibility on a shot like that. I saw the opportunity.”
The Knicks fell to 0-9 without Anthony, who came to Rambis asking for the night off. Rambis started a second-tier unit of Vujacic, Jerian Grant, Cleanthony Early, Derrick Williams and Robin Lopez.
“He’s got some bumps and bruises,’’ Rambis said of Anthony. “It’s a good opportunity to give Carmelo a break because there’s a nice break in our schedule, so he could finish the season strong,’’
Rambis said reducing Anthony’s minutes is “a double-edged sword.’’ In another words, it’s harder for a player like Anthony to stay loose in that new format.
Early had a poor outing starting in Anthony’s place, shooting 0-for-6 and finishing with two points as the Knicks fell to 31-47.
Rambis said he got on the team at halftime for not getting back in transition and not showing effort. He was proud by the end.
“I got on them pretty good at halftime,’’ Rambis said. “I really appreciate and admire how well they came out and played in the second half. It’s a good lesson to our guys the effort you have to put in to winning ballgames.’’
Struggling with his demotion to the bench, Afflalo shook off a poor shooting night to light up the fourth quarter after going 1-of-7 in the first three periods. His wild 3-pointer with 14 seconds that would’ve cut the deficit back to a single point was waved off after an official’s review determined he had his foot out of bounds before catching the inbounds pass.
“My competitive spirit kicked in,’’ Afflalo said.
Afflalo sank two free throws with 1:18 left to give the Knicks an 87-85 lead. Paul George, returning after spraining his ankle in the third quarter, scored on an 18-footer over a tough contest by Afflalo with 23.6 seconds left, breaking the tie and giving the Pacers (41-36) their winning points. George finished with 20 points.