Updated: December 12, 2011, 4:41 pm ET

With 7.8 ticks remaining in the fourth quarter and the score knotted at 117 after a too-easy Carmelo Anthony(notes) layup, the New York Knicks rolled out their customary “switch all screens” final frame man-to-man defense, allowing Indiana Pacers star swingman Danny Granger(notes) to go one-on-one with Knicks reserve forward Shawne Williams(notes) in a “hit it and go home/lose it and go to overtime” situation.

The result? Everybody in Indiana made curfew.

The Knicks had a chance to tie or win with 0.3 seconds remaining, attempting a lob to the rim rather than a Trent Tucker rule prayer. The ill-designed alley-oop was doomed from the start, though, and Indy held on for the 119-117 home victory on Tuesday night.

As Brett Pollakoff noted at Pro Basketball Talk, that final possession didn’t exactly cover either team in glory. While Indy put the game in the hands of its best scorer, it did so with an unimaginative isolation call leading to a mid-range jumper by a player who’s shot 32.7 percent, 25 percent, 39.6 percent and 28.3 percent in “clutch” situations over the past four seasons. And while Granger certainly deserves credit for making the shot after creating a clean look with the step-back, the Knicks certainly didn’t make life too difficult on him, eschewing ball denial and double-teaming in favor of sticking with a single-up-and-switch blueprint that makes creating quickness mismatches like Granger-on-Williams a heck of a lot easier.

Granger’s sure shot — his second career last-second, game-winning bucket for the Pacers, according to Mike Wells at the Indianapolis Star — gave Indy its second win over the Knicks in three nights. It also put Frank Vogel’s team a half-game up on the idle Charlotte Bobcats in the race for the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot; the two teams will square off in Charlotte next Wednesday.

As for the Knicks?

They’re now 34-32 on the season, and 6-6 since the deal that imported Carmelo with four losses to the Pacers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets sport an 8-2 mark since the trade. Mike D’Antoni believes in yesterday, but isn’t sure about tomorrow. Oh, and despite believing there’s a bullseye on their collective back (which is weird for a six seed), the team is starting to look scarily like one that will make an early-round playoff exit (NOTE: they were always going to!). Plus, the New York front line has single-handedly launched the Tyler Hansbrough(notes) for Most Improved Player Movement, giving up consecutive career-best performances to the former North Carolina standout. And on multiple occasions last night, Darren Collison(notes) made Chauncey Billups(notes) look like he was 57 years old.

Outside of that, though, everything’s cream cheese.

Luckily for the Knicks, New York fans (and media types, especially) are notoriously patient and measured in their responses to stuff like this, so they’ll have plenty of time to figure it all out. No pressure.

International readers (“Int’l read’rs”): If the clip above isn’t rocking for you, please feel free to peruse the game-winner elsewhere, thanks to our man @Jose3030.

Related: Darren Collison, Tyler Hansbrough, Shawne Williams, Carmelo Anthony, Danny Granger, Chauncey Billups, Charlotte Bobcats, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks, Video

By Brad Wells – Editor

Read More: Carmelo Anthony (F – NYK), Chauncey Billups (G – NYK), Danny Granger (F – IND), Brendan Haywood (C – DAL), Amare Stoudemire (C – NYK), Tyler Hansbrough (F – IND), Frank Vogel (A – IND), Indiana Pacers, Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, Charlotte Bobcats, Denver Nuggets

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Mar 13, 2011 - (Sports Network) – The sliding Indiana Pacers will begin a home-and-home series with the New York Knicks tonight from Madison Square Garden.

The Pacers have lost six in a row and will host the Knicks at Conseco Fieldhouse on Tuesday. New York won the first meeting of the season, 98-92, on Jan. 2 in the Big Apple behind 26 points and eight rebounds from Amare Stoudemire and is 5-2 in the previous seven matchups between the teams.

Indiana has dropped three of four trips to MSG and suffered its sixth consecutive defeat with Friday’s 108-98 decision in Toronto. Leandro Barbosa torched the Pacers for 29 points, while Danny Granger led Indiana with 25 and seven boards. Tyler Hansbrough compiled 20 points and seven rebounds.

“I can’t figure (the slow starts) out, to be honest with you,” said Hansbrough, who has scored 20-plus points in three straight games. “It’s just something that we have to take upon ourselves, to come out and have better starts and be prepared better.”

The Pacers have lost five in a row on the road and are 0-2 on a three-game trek. They own a 10-23 record as the guest in 2010-11. Indy started 7-1 under head coach Frank Vogel, but has gone 3-10 since to fall to 10-11 with its new sideline boss.

Indiana and Charlotte are even at the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference, but the Pacers own the upper hand by virtue of having won two of three games with the Bobcats.

New York will try to pick up the pieces from Thursday’s 127-109 demolition at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks and lost for only the fourth time in its last 12 contests. Its three-game winning streak was stopped, however.

Stoudemire poured in 36 points and also logged his 16th technical foul of the season when he and Brendan Haywood were both whistled in the second quarter. Stoudemire will not be suspended after the call was upheld by the NBA.

“It was nothing,” said Stoudemire. “[We were] actually laughing about it after that. And the official agreed that it wasn’t that bad, so hopefully I’ll get that rescinded.”

Carmelo Anthony added 18 points and is 6-4 since joining the Knicks from Denver in a blockbuster deal before the trade deadline. Chauncey Billups, who also came over in the Nuggets deal, missed his sixth straight game because of a left thigh bruise. He is listed as questionable for Sunday.

The Knicks are sixth in the conference — just one game ahead of idle Philadelphia — and 18-13 as the host this season.

Read More: Kevin Durant (F – OKC), Oklahoma City Thunder, Indiana Pacers at Oklahoma City Thunder, Mar 2, 2011 8:00 PM EST

Kevin Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder’s blow-out win over the Indiana Pacers in the third quarter after rolling his ankle in a collision with Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough, but the injury isn’t considered serious, reports Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman. Durant said he simply tweaked his ankle after stepping on Hansbrough’s foot, and while he wore a walking boot after the game as a precaution, he said he may be able to play in the Thunder’s next game Friday against the Atlanta Hawks.

Durant missed four games early this season, but played all 82 last season, 74 in 2008-09 and 80 in his rookie season, making him one of the more dependable young stars in the NBA. The defending NBA scoring champ is averaging a league-best 28.4 points per game this year, and is more than two points per game ahead of LeBron James in the race for the 2010-11 scoring crown.

The Thunder are 37-22, and increasingly seem locked in to the No. 4 seed in the West. Oklahoma City trails the Los Angeles Lakers by three games in the loss column, and leads the Denver Nuggets by four.

For more Durant news, visit Welcome To Loud City.

CARMELO Anthony got off to a sluggish start, but caught fire in the third quarter as the Denver Nuggets crushed the Indiana Pacers 121-107 on Monday morning (Singapore time).

The Pacers had blown out the Nuggets 144-113 in November, but on Monday it was Denver (25-18) dishing out the damage, earning their fifth win in their last seven games.

Anthony, who had recently been booed by his home crowd as trade rumours swirled, missed his first six shots but wound up making 14 of 27 and finishing with 36 points.

He made a career-best six three-pointers in the third quarter, in which he tallied 23 points, to put his team in control.

‘Regardless if I start off slow, 0-for-4, 0-for-5, that’s just getting warmed up for me,’ Anthony said. ‘As the game went on things started to open up for me.’

Denver seized an eight-point lead at halftime and led by 15 after three quarters as Anthony found his range. 

‘There is no question he had it rolling,’ said Nuggets coach George Karl.

‘I thought the passing found him a lot. It would be great if we could find him on the weak side a little more often.’

Al Harrington had 16 points off the bench and Nene chipped in 15 and 10 rebounds as the Nuggets got a home win before heading off for a five-game road trip.

Tyler Hansbrough led the way with 27 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers (16-25), who lost their fifth in a row.

Reuters

 Back to Sports

CARMELO Anthony got off to a sluggish start, but caught fire in the third quarter as the Denver Nuggets crushed the Indiana Pacers 121-107 on Monday morning (Singapore time).

The Pacers had blown out the Nuggets 144-113 in November, but on Monday it was Denver (25-18) dishing out the damage, earning their fifth win in their last seven games.

Anthony, who had recently been booed by his home crowd as trade rumours swirled, missed his first six shots but wound up making 14 of 27 and finishing with 36 points.

He made a career-best six three-pointers in the third quarter, in which he tallied 23 points, to put his team in control.

‘Regardless if I start off slow, 0-for-4, 0-for-5, that’s just getting warmed up for me,’ Anthony said. ‘As the game went on things started to open up for me.’

Denver seized an eight-point lead at halftime and led by 15 after three quarters as Anthony found his range. 

‘There is no question he had it rolling,’ said Nuggets coach George Karl.

‘I thought the passing found him a lot. It would be great if we could find him on the weak side a little more often.’

Al Harrington had 16 points off the bench and Nene chipped in 15 and 10 rebounds as the Nuggets got a home win before heading off for a five-game road trip.

Tyler Hansbrough led the way with 27 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers (16-25), who lost their fifth in a row.

Reuters

 Back to Sports

CARMELO Anthony got off to a sluggish start, but caught fire in the third quarter as the Denver Nuggets crushed the Indiana Pacers 121-107 on Monday morning (Singapore time).

The Pacers had blown out the Nuggets 144-113 in November, but on Monday it was Denver (25-18) dishing out the damage, earning their fifth win in their last seven games.

Anthony, who had recently been booed by his home crowd as trade rumours swirled, missed his first six shots but wound up making 14 of 27 and finishing with 36 points.

He made a career-best six three-pointers in the third quarter, in which he tallied 23 points, to put his team in control.

‘Regardless if I start off slow, 0-for-4, 0-for-5, that’s just getting warmed up for me,’ Anthony said. ‘As the game went on things started to open up for me.’

Denver seized an eight-point lead at halftime and led by 15 after three quarters as Anthony found his range. 

‘There is no question he had it rolling,’ said Nuggets coach George Karl.

‘I thought the passing found him a lot. It would be great if we could find him on the weak side a little more often.’

Al Harrington had 16 points off the bench and Nene chipped in 15 and 10 rebounds as the Nuggets got a home win before heading off for a five-game road trip.

Tyler Hansbrough led the way with 27 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers (16-25), who lost their fifth in a row.

Reuters

 Back to Sports

CARMELO Anthony got off to a sluggish start, but caught fire in the third quarter as the Denver Nuggets crushed the Indiana Pacers 121-107 on Monday morning (Singapore time).

The Pacers had blown out the Nuggets 144-113 in November, but on Monday it was Denver (25-18) dishing out the damage, earning their fifth win in their last seven games.

Anthony, who had recently been booed by his home crowd as trade rumours swirled, missed his first six shots but wound up making 14 of 27 and finishing with 36 points.

He made a career-best six three-pointers in the third quarter, in which he tallied 23 points, to put his team in control.

‘Regardless if I start off slow, 0-for-4, 0-for-5, that’s just getting warmed up for me,’ Anthony said. ‘As the game went on things started to open up for me.’

Denver seized an eight-point lead at halftime and led by 15 after three quarters as Anthony found his range. 

‘There is no question he had it rolling,’ said Nuggets coach George Karl.

‘I thought the passing found him a lot. It would be great if we could find him on the weak side a little more often.’

Al Harrington had 16 points off the bench and Nene chipped in 15 and 10 rebounds as the Nuggets got a home win before heading off for a five-game road trip.

Tyler Hansbrough led the way with 27 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers (16-25), who lost their fifth in a row.

Reuters

 Back to Sports

CARMELO Anthony got off to a sluggish start, but caught fire in the third quarter as the Denver Nuggets crushed the Indiana Pacers 121-107 on Monday morning (Singapore time).

The Pacers had blown out the Nuggets 144-113 in November, but on Monday it was Denver (25-18) dishing out the damage, earning their fifth win in their last seven games.

Anthony, who had recently been booed by his home crowd as trade rumours swirled, missed his first six shots but wound up making 14 of 27 and finishing with 36 points.

He made a career-best six three-pointers in the third quarter, in which he tallied 23 points, to put his team in control.

‘Regardless if I start off slow, 0-for-4, 0-for-5, that’s just getting warmed up for me,’ Anthony said. ‘As the game went on things started to open up for me.’

Denver seized an eight-point lead at halftime and led by 15 after three quarters as Anthony found his range. 

‘There is no question he had it rolling,’ said Nuggets coach George Karl.

‘I thought the passing found him a lot. It would be great if we could find him on the weak side a little more often.’

Al Harrington had 16 points off the bench and Nene chipped in 15 and 10 rebounds as the Nuggets got a home win before heading off for a five-game road trip.

Tyler Hansbrough led the way with 27 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers (16-25), who lost their fifth in a row.

Reuters

 Back to Sports

CARMELO Anthony got off to a sluggish start, but caught fire in the third quarter as the Denver Nuggets crushed the Indiana Pacers 121-107 on Monday morning (Singapore time).

The Pacers had blown out the Nuggets 144-113 in November, but on Monday it was Denver (25-18) dishing out the damage, earning their fifth win in their last seven games.

Anthony, who had recently been booed by his home crowd as trade rumours swirled, missed his first six shots but wound up making 14 of 27 and finishing with 36 points.

He made a career-best six three-pointers in the third quarter, in which he tallied 23 points, to put his team in control.

‘Regardless if I start off slow, 0-for-4, 0-for-5, that’s just getting warmed up for me,’ Anthony said. ‘As the game went on things started to open up for me.’

Denver seized an eight-point lead at halftime and led by 15 after three quarters as Anthony found his range. 

‘There is no question he had it rolling,’ said Nuggets coach George Karl.

‘I thought the passing found him a lot. It would be great if we could find him on the weak side a little more often.’

Al Harrington had 16 points off the bench and Nene chipped in 15 and 10 rebounds as the Nuggets got a home win before heading off for a five-game road trip.

Tyler Hansbrough led the way with 27 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers (16-25), who lost their fifth in a row.

Reuters

 Back to Sports

CARMELO Anthony got off to a sluggish start, but caught fire in the third quarter as the Denver Nuggets crushed the Indiana Pacers 121-107 on Monday morning (Singapore time).

The Pacers had blown out the Nuggets 144-113 in November, but on Monday it was Denver (25-18) dishing out the damage, earning their fifth win in their last seven games.

Anthony, who had recently been booed by his home crowd as trade rumours swirled, missed his first six shots but wound up making 14 of 27 and finishing with 36 points.

He made a career-best six three-pointers in the third quarter, in which he tallied 23 points, to put his team in control.

‘Regardless if I start off slow, 0-for-4, 0-for-5, that’s just getting warmed up for me,’ Anthony said. ‘As the game went on things started to open up for me.’

Denver seized an eight-point lead at halftime and led by 15 after three quarters as Anthony found his range. 

‘There is no question he had it rolling,’ said Nuggets coach George Karl.

‘I thought the passing found him a lot. It would be great if we could find him on the weak side a little more often.’

Al Harrington had 16 points off the bench and Nene chipped in 15 and 10 rebounds as the Nuggets got a home win before heading off for a five-game road trip.

Tyler Hansbrough led the way with 27 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers (16-25), who lost their fifth in a row.

Reuters

 Back to Sports

DENVER (AP) — Carmelo Anthony gave the home crowd nothing to boo about Sunday night, scoring 36 points in the Denver Nuggets’ 121-107 victory over the Indiana Pacers, who lost their fifth straight.

Anthony had been subjected to jeers by the home crowd as trade talk intensified last week, but on this night, the Denver fans showed him plenty of love, especially when he was raining 3s from all over the court as he put on a spectacular 23-point show in the third quarter.

Anthony’s career-best six 3-pointers all came in the third period as the Nuggets turned a close game into a laugher — a reversal of their game in November when the Pacers made their first 20 shots of the third quarter and rolled to a 144-113 win in Indianapolis.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)