Pacers Hold Off Knicks 106-104 in NBA Cup Play

The Indiana Pacers beat the New York Knicks 106-104 on Friday night, November 13, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in NBA Cup group play. Indiana led by 11 late in the third quarter, gave the lead back, rebuilt it to 10 in the fourth, and then scored two points in the final 4:59. It was still enough. Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 19 points on 5-for-13 shooting.

New York's finish explains the loss and the standings. The Knicks closed the third quarter on a 10-0 run that cut an 11-point deficit to 85-84, and they pushed again in the final minute after Indiana coughed up a late turnover. The comeback fell two points short. New York is 6-6 in the regular season and 0-2 in Cup group play, last in its group, and no team with two group losses has reached the knockout rounds since the Cup began in 2023.

Indiana's answer came from its depth, not its stars. Jay Huff scored eight quick points in a four-minute first-half stretch, hitting two threes and finishing at the rim, and the Pacers won the minutes with Karl-Anthony Towns on the bench by 11 in the first half. T.J. McConnell pressured the rim and dished four assists before halftime, and Obi Toppin shot 3-for-4 in the first half.

The fourth quarter flipped twice. After New York's run made it a one-point game, Indiana opened the final period 14-5 over the first 4:18, built on loose balls and rebounds rather than set offense. Siakam hit a tough jumper over Jalen Brunson in crunch time, the Pacers forced an eight-second violation, and they grabbed nearly every available rebound in the closing stretch.

Towns caused Indiana problems all night, as his shooting pulls centers away from the rim. He attempted seven threes and pulled in 15 rebounds, and New York still lost his minutes, because Indiana's bench had already banked the margin by then. Brunson and Towns are New York's cover problem for everyone; on Friday the Pacers solved it with numbers, playing without Tyrese Haliburton and still finding a second unit that could score.

The box score shows how thin the margin was. Both teams shot 39-for-90 from the field. Indiana won the game at the line and on the glass: the Pacers made 18 of 25 free throws to New York's 10 of 13, and they pulled down 50 rebounds, with 22 assists and 14 steals spread across the rotation. When a two-point game turns on free throws and second chances, the bench minutes that built Indiana's first-half margin are the margin.

The Cup court itself became part of the game. Indiana's blue NBA Cup floor drew the usual slips, with Josh Hart, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Andrew Nembhard all tumbling near midcourt. The Pacers play one more game on that floor, on November 27 against Philadelphia, and they could play more if they reach the Cup playoffs, a route Friday's win keeps open.

The win is Indiana's second straight, the first back-to-back wins of its season, and it does it against the defending Cup champions in their only trip to Indianapolis this season. The Pacers go to Philadelphia next. New York goes home at .500, with a Cup defense that's effectively over in November and a regular season that hasn't found the level its roster promised.