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Pacers are 1-4 at home
How to watch Knicks at Pacers and tip-off time
Tip-off at Gainbridge Fieldhouse is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET, 6:00 p.m. CT, 4:00 p.m. PT and 00:00 GMT (01:00 in Madrid).
Prime Video carries the game in the United States, and NBA League Pass is the option for out-of-market fans in other regions.
Stay with VAVEL for confirmed starting lineups, the final injury updates on McConnell and Nesmith and live quarter-by-quarter scoring.
Gainbridge Fieldhouse and the NBA Cup context
The game is played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, where the Pacers are 1-4 this season. It is an Emirates NBA Cup group game, so the result counts toward the in-season tournament standings as well as the regular season record.
The game is broadcast by Prime Video, which carries the NBA Cup group games on this slate, and it is one of several tournament games on the same night.
Indiana has only one home win in five tries, so this game against New York is an early test of how the team handles Gainbridge Fieldhouse without Haliburton.
The Knicks are 2-2 on the road, and one of those wins came at Cleveland in their last five games.
The betting line: Knicks by 6.5 with a 221.5 total
The market sees New York as the clear favorite. The Knicks are listed at -6.5, and the over/under is 221.5.
New York's last five games produced totals of 193, 240, 206, 202 and 222 points, and Indiana's produced 212, 210, 216, 247 and 215, so the total sits between those two ranges.
The Knicks' defensive numbers (85 points allowed to Milwaukee and 90 to Brooklyn) pull the total down, while Indiana's 125-122 game in Dallas pushes it up.
The spread of 6.5 points is also notable because the Knicks lost their latest game, so the market is not overreacting to that single result.
Atlantic and Central standings entering the night
The Atlantic Division is led by Boston at 10-2, followed by Philadelphia at 9-3, New York at 6-5, Toronto at 5-6 and Brooklyn at 3-8.
In the Central, Detroit leads at 7-3, Cleveland is 6-6, Indiana is 4-8, Chicago is 1-9 and Milwaukee is 1-11.
The Knicks are third in the Atlantic, 3.5 games behind Boston, and the Pacers are third in the Central, four games behind Detroit.
That leaves New York with a winning record, while Indiana trails both Detroit and Cleveland in the Central and sits ahead of only Chicago and Milwaukee.
Pacers' last five: wins over Memphis and Washington, close losses to Atlanta and Dallas
Indiana lost 108-104 to Atlanta, won 107-103 at Memphis, lost 114-102 to Denver, lost 125-122 at Dallas and beat Washington 114-101 in its latest game.
Three of the five games were decided by four points or fewer, so the Pacers have competed, even with the roster losses. The 247 combined points in the Dallas game are the highest total in either team's last five, and the Pacers were on the losing side of it by three.
The 125-122 loss in Dallas and the 107-103 win in Memphis are the two road games, so the team has split its recent trips away from Indianapolis.
Over those five games Indiana averaged 109.8 points and allowed 110.2, which puts the Pacers almost exactly even, a profile that matches a 4-8 team with a lot of close results.
Knicks' last five: four wins, including a 135-105 rout of Chicago
New York beat Brooklyn 103-90, destroyed Chicago 135-105, won 109-97 at Cleveland and beat Milwaukee 117-85. In its latest game, the Knicks lost 115-107 to Cleveland at home.
The four wins came by 13, 30, 12 and 32 points, so New York has played comfortably in most of its recent games. The 135 points scored against Chicago are the highest single-game total for either team in the five-game samples listed here.
The defeat to the Cavaliers is the only blemish in that stretch, and it is also the most recent result.
Across the five games the Knicks averaged 114.2 points and allowed 98.4, a plus-15.8 margin per night that shows how dominant the team has been on both ends.
Pascal Siakam and Andrew Nembhard carry the Pacers
With Haliburton out, Indiana's production runs through Pascal Siakam and Andrew Nembhard. Siakam leads the Pacers with 22.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, while Nembhard leads the team in assists at 7.8.
Nembhard's assist number is the highest listed for either team, ahead of Brunson's 5.2, which says how much of the playmaking has fallen on him.
Siakam's 22.7 points are the second-best scoring average among the leaders listed, behind only Brunson's 26.0, so that scoring duel is the matchup to track early.
The Pacers are 2-5 against Eastern Conference teams, while the Knicks are 6-5, a gap that shows how differently the two seasons have started inside the conference.
Jalen Brunson leads New York with 26.0 points and 5.2 assists
The engine of the Knicks is Jalen Brunson, who leads the team in scoring at 26.0 points per game and in assists at 5.2. Karl-Anthony Towns anchors the glass with 13.5 rebounds per game, the highest rebounding average in this matchup.
Together they give New York a guard who creates shots from the pick-and-roll and a big man who finishes the possession on the defensive boards.
The Knicks have scored 100 or more in all five of their last games, from 103 against Brooklyn to 135 against Chicago, so the offense has been consistent entering Indianapolis.
Brunson's 26.0 points per game are 3.3 more than Siakam's 22.7 for Indiana, so the Knicks hold the best scoring average of the two teams.
Tyrese Haliburton is out for Indiana, with three more names on the report
The Pacers' injury list is long. Tyrese Haliburton is out with a hamstring injury, Johnny Furphy is out with a knee injury and Ben Sheppard is also out with a knee problem.
T.J. McConnell (hamstring) and Aaron Nesmith (knee) are listed as day-to-day, so their status is worth watching before the opening tip.
The Knicks come in with an empty injury report, which gives them a clear advantage in rotation depth against a Pacers team missing its starting point guard.
In total, Indiana has five players on the report, three ruled out and two day-to-day, which is the longest injury list on either side by a wide margin.
Knicks visit the Pacers in NBA Cup group play at 7:00 p.m. ET
Welcome to VAVEL's live coverage of New York Knicks at Indiana Pacers from Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Tip-off in this Emirates NBA Cup group game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET, which is midnight GMT and 01:00 on Saturday in Madrid.
The Indiana Pacers are 4-8 on the season and 1-4 at home. The New York Knicks arrive at 6-5, with a 2-2 record on the road. New York is a 6.5-point favorite and the total is set at 221.5.
The game streams on Prime Video, and we will follow every basket, timeout and substitution here as it happens.
Indiana has won only one of its five home games this season, and the latest was a 114-101 win over Washington.
Siakam leads the team with 22.7 points per game.