The New York Knicks (2-3, 1-2 on road) head to Bankers Life Fieldhouse for a Saturday night matchup with the Indiana Pacers (4-1, 3-1 at home). The Pacers were able to get the better of the Knicks on December 23 when they defeated them by the score of 121-107 in what was each team’s season opener.

The Knicks mini two-game win streak came to an end on Thursday when they lost 100-83 to the Toronto Raptors. It was an ugly shooting night of epic proportions for New York especially from three-point territory where they shot an unsightly 3-36.

Early in the season, the Pacers are tied with three other teams for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

They easily handled the Cleveland Cavaliers in a 119-99 victory on Thursday. All five starters scored at least 12 points for Indiana, and Doug McDermott put up 18 off the bench.

Injuries

  • New York: Out - Frank Ntilikina (knee), Dennis Smith Jr. (quad), Omari Spellman (calf), Obi Toppin (calf), Questionable - Alec Burks (ankle), Immanuel Quickley (hip)
  • Indiana: Out - Goga Bitadze (ankle), Brian Bowen II (groin), Jeremy Lamb (knee), T.J. Warren (foot)

Projected starters

  • New York: PG - Elfrid Payton, SG - RJ Barrett, SF - Reggie Bullock, PF - Julius Randle, C - Mitchell Robinson
  • Indiana: PG - Aaron Holiday, SG - Malcolm Brogdon, SF - Victor Oladipo, PF - Domantas Sabonis, C - Myles Turner

Team stat leaders

  • New York: Scoring - Julius Randle 23.0, Rebounding - Julius Randle 10.4, Assists - Julius Randle 7.0, Steals - Mitchell Robinson 1.2, Blocks - Mitchell Robinson 1.6
  • Indiana: Scoring - Domantas Sabonis 22.4, Rebounding - Domantas Sabonis 11.0, Assists - Domantas Sabonis 7.2, Steals - Myles Turner 2.0, Blocks - Myles Turner 4.2

Team rankings

  • New York: Scoring average - 100.8 (30th of 30 teams), Points allowed per game - 105.2 (6th)
  • Indiana: Scoring average - 116.8 (7th), Points allowed per game - 107.0 (8th)

Things to know

  • New York had no answer for All-Star Domantas Sabonis in their season opener as he finished the game with 32 points on 11-18 shooting with 13 rebounds. He made 61.9 percent of his field goal attempts against the Knicks in three outings last season.
  • What Knicks team will we see on Saturday? The one who led the league in three-point percentage after four games or the one who shot a miserable 3-39 from deep in their last contest? According to Justin Kubatko of Basketball Reference, their starters set a single game NBA record for futility with zero three-point makes in 23 tries.
  • New York is last in scoring offense in the NBA and that’s with a 130-point showing against the Milwaukee Bucks on December 27. In their other four games, they are only averaging a measly 93.5 points.
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