He New York Knicks They are not happy after their 132-121 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Despite having a lead in the fourth quarter, the Knicks They were unable to withstand the Pacers’ barrage of offense in the final 12 minutes, resulting in a disappointing loss.

“They are a great offensive team. And we gave up too much.” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said h/t Posting and toasting. “We don’t challenge shots, they’re going to hit them. Too big a discrepancy from the three-point line. They did 21, we did 7. That’s a problem. Our offense, we scored 121 points, we shot 55 (percent). We get to the line a lot. He outrebounded them. But we didn’t reach the 3-point line.”

Loss brings Knicks to 4-5 on the season, and while other Eastern Conference teams are struggling alongside them, New York has higher expectations for itself.

The loss especially frustrated Karl-Anthony Towns.

“This is my tenth year in the NBA. Last year was a year where I got a tremendous amount of experience going to the Western Conference Finals, and I know when we were in Games 80, 81, 82 against the Suns, we looked back at those Games 1, 4, etc. . I looked back at the ones you gave away that put you in a better position, whether it’s to be ranked No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, or give us the opportunity to choose our destiny,” Towns said. ” That’s why I’m disappointed. The experience has taught me a lot. “This is as important as Game 82, and that’s what disappoints me.”

While the Knicks won’t be able to get that game back against the Pacers, Towns is right. You can’t take any of these games for granted.

Last year, the Knicks won 50 games, giving them the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Miami Heat, just four games back with 46 wins, were in eighth place. That means every game should matter in the challenge that is the East, because many of the contenders are pretty evenly matched in terms of talent and quality. The final standings at the end of the year could very well come down to these close games early in the season, so the Knicks need to treat each matchup like a playoff game.

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