Indiana Pacers vs. New York Knicks: Postgame Grades and Analysis for New York

Paul George scored 35 points and hit three free throws with 5.2 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime, helping the Indiana Pacers climb out of a 13-0 hole to beat the New York Knicks, 103-96, on Wednesday night.

The Pacers got off to an incredibly sloppy start in this contest, but the Knicks weren't much better offensively early on. They allowed Indiana to hang around, and in the end, the Pacers did what they do best: grind their opponent down en route to a win.

Carmelo Anthony led New York with 30 points in what is a heartbreaking loss for the struggling Knicks, who have now lost six straight home games.

Up by three with 5.2 seconds to go in the fourth quarter, Iman Shumpert fouled George on a three-point attempt, sending the forward to the line. It was a controversial call, but Knicks coach Mike Woodson said postgame that it was the correct one.

Indiana then severely outplayed New York in the extra period to haul in the victory.

The Pacers shot 38 percent from the floor. The Knicks were similarly inefficient, shooting 37 percent.

The main difference was free throws. Indiana shot 28-of-36 from the line. New York only went 14-of-17.

Key Player Grades

Carmelo Anthony, Small Forward

Anthony got off to a rather slow start in this one, shooting 2-of-6 in the first quarter, but he exploded in the second period, scoring 13 points of 5-of-8 shooting. He also kept possessions alive by battling on the glass for offensive rebounds.

That hustle and intensity on the boards continued throughout the night, as Anthony finished this game with 18 rebounds and clearly had physical intentions all game. He was going up against a big team in Indiana, so he knew he had to pick up the slack with Tyson Chandler sidelined.

All things considered, however, this was a pretty poor night for Anthony offensively.

Yes, he did score 30 points, but he didn't exactly do it efficiently.

The star forward shot 10-of-28 from the floor and missed all three of his three-point tries. He did go 10-of-10 from the free-throw line, though, so at least he was getting to the stripe, and he was working hard for points down low.

Overall, you have to appreciate 'Melo's heart and effort in the loss. You simply cannot ignore 18 boards from a small forward. It just would have been nicer if he made a few more shots.

Grade: B+

Iman Shumpert, Shooting Guard

Shumpert will be remembered for all the wrong reasons after New York's loss to Indiana.

With the Knicks up three and 5.2 seconds remaining in regulation, the 2-guard fouled George as the Pacers forward rose up to fire a triple. George would then go to the line and hit all free throws to send the game into overtime.

The inexplicably poor (and somewhat controversial) foul by Shumpert overshadows what was actually a solid performance from the young man in the wake of incessant trade rumors.

He didn't make too much of a dent in the stat sheet, but as you all know, sometimes, you have to look beyond the box score.

Shumpert played some very fine defense on George prior to that fateful possession at the end of the fourth quarter, especially early on in the game.

Shumpert had four points and four rebounds, but he also added five steals and registered a plus-six plus/minus, demonstrating just how solid he was defensively.

Grade: C

Andrea Bargnani, Center

The good news is that Andrea Bargnani was physical and actually fought with Roy Hibbert in the post.

The bad news is that he shot 4-of-16 from the floor (1-of-6 from three) and fouled out in 38 minutes of floor time.

Bargnani ended up with 10 points and eight boards. He missed a very large number of open looks and was never able to get comfortable offensively.

Still, his effort in helping contain Hibbert earns him a better mark than you would think.

Grade: C-

Kenyon Martin, Power Forward

This was a valiant effort by Kenyon Martin.

The wily veteran posted six points and nine rebounds and even turned back the clock with a putback slam at the end of the third quarter.

Martin played very physical defense, bodying up the Pacers' frontcourt and blocking a couple of shots.

K-Mart was supposed to be on a minutes limit this season, but he logged 38 minutes of action against Indiana. He certainly made the most of them.

Grade: A-

Beno Udrih, Point Guard

Beno Udrih was simply awesome down the stretch.

He scored nine of his 19 points in the fourth period, hitting some circus shots and a huge three late in the shot clock on one possession.

Udrih's overall numbers were fairly gaudy, as well. Along with those 19 points off 8-of-15 shooting (3-of-4 from long range), the floor general grabbed eight rebounds and handed out four assists. He also only turned the ball over twice.

I've always liked Udrih's game. The man deserves more minutes.

Grade: A

J.R. Smith, Sixth Man

It's kind of difficult to characterize J.R. Smith's performance against the Pacers, mainly because it was a very schizophrenic outing by the Knicks guard.

He started out poorly, doing a lot of overdribbling and hoisting up long jumpers much like he did throughout the 2013 postseason.

Then, Smith took initiative and started putting the ball on the floor and getting to the cup, and hey! What do you know? He got some nice results.

However, the bad Smith returned in the fourth quarter, making a couple of poor decisions, including throwing the ball right to Indiana's George as if he were his teammate. He then missed a wide-open corner three with just under a minute to go. And I mean wide open. He proceeded to brick another good look from downtown in overtime.

Smith scored 21 points off 8-of-19 shooting (4-of-10 from deep) and grabbed five rebounds in an extremely inconsistent performance.

Grade: C

Bench

To put it lightly, the Knicks bench was terrible on Wednesday night, and yes, that is putting it lightly.

Outside of Smith, New York only got six points from its reserves, with Pablo Prigioni, Metta World Peace and Tim Hardaway Jr. contributing two points apiece.

Prigioni was uncharacteristically sloppy with the basketball, trying to force some passes into tight areas and playing carelessly. He committed three turnovers in 14-and-a-half minutes of action.

World Peace picked up some silly fouls and shot 1-of-5 from the floor and didn't grab a single rebound in 16 minutes.

This was a night to forget for the Knicks reserves.

Grade: D

What's Next for the Knicks?

Things don't get any easier for the Knicks, as they will now embark on a four-game road trip that will see them play the Washington Wizards, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets.

Fortunately, New York played arguably its finest game of the season against the Pacers, so maybe it will gain some confidence heading into this tough stretch.

Stephen A. Smith was surprised by the Knicks tough effort early on, but was satisfied:

If the Knicks can come out of this road trip with two wins, they will probably feel pretty good about themselves. Given the way they fought against Indiana, going 2-2 (at the very least) is certainly a distinct possibility.