Knick’s 2nd Miracle Comeback Falls Short; Pacers Win Again. Indiana 137 NY 134 in OT

February 11, 2026 LouV 2025-26 0
Jose Alvarado provided energy off the bench for NY in his first game as a Knick at Madison Square Garden. Photo courtesy NY Knicks.

The Indiana Pacers are tanking this season — looking to keep their own draft pick by finishing with one of the bottom 4 records in the NBA — but played up for this game against the Knicks and beat them, again, 137-134 in OT on a Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Knick nemeses Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, and Pascal Siakam were at it again — hitting 3’s and using their length to advantage. Add T.J. McConnell to the mix, with his usual pain-in-the-ass self.

NY tried and tried and tried all evening to put the Pacers away, but couldn’t — the game went back and forth in a frenzy — the lead changing 39 times, an NBA record for the season.

Indiana seemed to have the game won at the end of regulation — but the Knicks forged a miracle comeback when Siakam missed 1 of 2 free throws, and down the other end Landry Shamet missed a game-winning 3 but Karl-Anthony Towns came out of nowhere and was fouled on an offensive-rebound tip-back attempt with .1 second left.

And with all of Knick universe watching as a sold-out Madison Square Garden went silent — KAT made both PRESSURE free throws to send the game into OT.

But Indiana hit its shots in OT, and the Knicks didn’t — the Pacers rolling out to a 9-pt lead with 20 seconds left. And then.. the Knicks almost came up with an even bigger miracle comeback — pulling to within 4 pts, and then almost tying it when Jalen Brunson hit a 3 with 5.6 seconds left, with the defender slightly grazing his hand. But the foul wasn’t called and the Knicks lost.

Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 40 pts on 15-31 shooting (4-14 from 3, 6-8 in free throws). KAT had 22 pts and 14 rebounds; Mikal Bridges had 22 pts, Landry Shamet scored 17 and Josh Hart had a triple-double of 15 pts, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists. Mitchell Robinson did not play and OG Anunoby was out for his 3rd straight game with a toe issue.

“It was really cool,” said Karl-Anthony Towns afterwards about the 2 CLUTCH free throws. “It was a moment I was definitely hype for. I was ready to go up there and make those shots for our team.”

“Great players find a way to make their teammates better… there’s a lot of ways he can impact the game,” said coach Mike Brown about KAT.

NY falls to 34-20; Indiana improves to 14-40.

1. Knicks Edge Ahead in a Tight First Quarter

Both teams traded baskets early on, setting the tone for what would become a back-and-forth battle with 39 lead changes throughout the night.

The Knicks, led by Jalen Brunson, managed to outpace the Pacers slightly, ending the quarter with a 33-32 lead.

Karl-Anthony Towns contributed with efficient inside scoring, while Pascal Siakam kept Indiana close with drives to the rim. This slim one-point lead for New York hinted at the high-scoring affair to come, as both teams shot over 50% from the field in the opening period.

2. Knicks Pull Away to 69-63 Halftime Lead

T.J. McConnell was out on the floor with Indiana’s 2nd team at the start of the 2nd — and he was being a pain in the ass as usual, with drives and dishes or buckets.

Jose Alvarado played the point for NY — instead of Tyler Kolek who has now found the bench. Kolek was the hero of the prior game between these two teams in December, a game NY won 114-113 on a Jalen Brunson 3 at the buzzer.

Alvarado gave the Knicks energy but missed his shot — shooting 1-5 (0-3 from 3, 2-3 in free throws) for 4 pts.

Indiana pulled out to a 55-49 lead midway thru the period on a Ben Sheppard bucket, but Mohamed Diawara and Mikal Bridges hit back-to-back 3’s for a tie game at 55-55.

That started a 20-6 run for NY — with buckets by Hart, KAT, and Brunson — that put NY up 69-61.

NY led 69-63 at the half.

3. Pacers Surge Back in the 3rd

But the Knicks couldn’t shake the Pacers. Quenton Jackson hit a 3 to start the 3rd, Aaron Nesmith followed with a 3, and Jackson hit another 3 and just like that it was a tie game.

From there the game went back and forth throughout the rest of the period — like a slugfest.

3. Nembhard Kills Knicks Down Stretch

KAT hit a 3 to start the 4th quarter and put NY back in the lead, 96-94.

TJ McConnell scored to tie it. Diawara scored to put NY back up. Jay Huff got a bucket-and-1 to tie it. It was like that — rollercoaster.

Ariel Hukporti hit a drive-and-1 to put NY up 104-100 with 8 minutes left — but old nemesis Andrew Nembhard hit a 3, then fed Huff next time down to put Indiana back up.

Nembhard continued to kill the Knicks down the stretch — hitting 3 key buckets for Indiana, the last one putting Indiana up 119-116 with 2:37 left.

“Tweeted below on Andrew Nembhard in 2022 on draft night,” noted NBA Analyst Ross Kreines. “Andrew plays with a purpose and edge, defends with a purpose can create his own offense and create for others, crafty, plays at his pace, plays to his strengths while willing to do the little things that has led to bigger things.”

4. KAT Hits PRESSURE Free Throws to Send Game into OT

A Siakam bucket put Indiana up by 4 with 1:29 left, but Jalen Brunson came up Huge with a drive-and-1 for a 3-pt play to cut the Pacer lead to 121-120 with 1:20 left.

But Brunson missed a 3 that would have put NY up, and then he missed a pullup that would have given NY the lead with 30 seconds left.

A Siakam score and Mikal Bridges free throws made it 123-122 Indiana and NY fouled Siakam with 5.2 seconds left.

Siakam could have put the game away — but missed the first free throw. He hit the 2nd, and the Knicks pushed the ball upcourt, where Shamet missed a game-winning 3 — but KAT came out of nowhere to attempt to tap it back in — and was fouled with .1 seconds left.

After a review — KAT stepped to the line — and HIT BOTH FREE THROWS UNDER PRESSURE.

Tie game. Overtime.

5. Knicks’ 2nd Miracle Comeback Try Falls Short

The miracle and good feelings were short lived.

Indiana scored the first 9 pts of overtime — a Jackson bucket, a Siakam bucket, a Jackson 3, and a Nembhard bucket.

Indiana had a 133-124 lead with 40 seconds left.

Hukporti scored inside, but Nembhard was fouled and made both free throws and Indiana had a 9-pt lead with 24 seconds left.

And then came almost-miracle #2:

Brunson scored on a drive, and Indiana was careless with the inbounds — Bridges stole it and fed Shamet for an immediate 3.

Indiana 135 NY 131 with 12 seconds left.

NY fouled Siakam — who went to the line with 5.6 seconds left — and Missed both free throws!

NY came out of a timeout — and Brunson hit a 3 from the top of the stripe — and seemingly got his hand slightly hit but no call. Indiana 135 NY 134.

The Knicks were forced to foul Jackson and he made both free throws with 3.9 seconds left. NY was down 3 with one more chance for a miracle. But Indiana purposely fouled Shamet before he could get off a 3, and he missed the first of 2 free throws for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401810626

 

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