Towns' Last Shot Rims Out as the Short-Handed Pacers Hold Off the Champion Knicks, 106-104

The Indiana Pacers were missing their floor general, they watched a 14-point lead disappear, and they nearly gave the game away in the final seconds. They still walked off their home floor as winners. Indiana held on to beat the New York Knicks, 106-104, on Friday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse when Karl-Anthony Towns' turnaround jumper at the horn bounced off the rim.

Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 19 points, and Aaron Nesmith added 18 points and seven rebounds. Kelly Oubre Jr. chipped in 16 points and five rebounds as all five Indiana starters reached double figures. Jalen Brunson led everyone with 33 points and 11 assists for New York, and Towns finished with 23 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and three steals.

The win was Indiana's first in NBA Cup group play and its second straight victory overall, lifting the Pacers to 5-8. The Knicks, the reigning NBA champions, fell to 6-6 with a second consecutive loss and dropped to 0-2 in the Cup, last in their group.

Indiana stretched its cushion to as many as 14 points before New York clawed all the way back and tied the game early in the fourth quarter. The Pacers answered and rebuilt an eight-point lead with under two minutes to play, which looked like enough.

It almost wasn't. Brunson attacked the rim for a driving layup that cut the margin to four, and the Knicks kept pressing. With 2.8 seconds left, Indiana turned the ball over on a sideline inbounds play, giving New York one last look while trailing by two. Towns caught it, spun into a fadeaway from roughly 15 feet and let it fly just before the buzzer. The ball caromed away, and the home crowd could finally exhale.

The New York Post called the Knicks' late rally valiant but short, and noted that the loss likely ends their hopes of defending the NBA Cup title they won last season.

This was the kind of win a team without its star has to find. Tyrese Haliburton remains sidelined with a left hamstring strain, and Indiana has had to build its offense by committee. On Friday, that committee showed up: five starters in double figures, Siakam steadying things as the veteran voice, and Nesmith doing the dirty work on both ends.

There was one worrying moment. Nesmith headed to the locker room late in the game after appearing to hurt his hand, and the Pacers did not offer an immediate update. He had already been working through right knee soreness earlier in the week. Indiana will be watching that hand closely over the weekend, because a team this thin cannot afford to lose another starter.

For New York, there was one piece of good news that will outlast the loss. Towns' 23-point, 15-rebound night was his 12th straight double-double to open the season, breaking Willis Reed's franchise record for consecutive double-doubles to start a year. Reed remains one of the most respected names in the franchise's history, and passing him on any list is no small thing for a big man who has carried a heavy load this fall.

Brunson, meanwhile, did nearly everything he could. His 33 points and 11 assists kept the Knicks within reach all night, and his late drive gave them the final chance they needed. The difference came down to one inbounds pass, one last shot and a few inches of iron.

The NBA Cup group stage does not leave much room for error. Yahoo Sports noted that Friday's loss all but eliminates the Knicks from this year's tournament, with New York sitting at the bottom of its group after two games. The champions are also searching for answers in the regular season, sitting at .500 less than a month into their title defense.

For Indiana, the picture is brighter. A team many expected to tread water once Haliburton went down is finding ways to win close games at home, and it now sits at 1-1 in Cup play with momentum it did not have a week ago.

There is a lesson in a night like this one. Championships are not defended on reputation, and short-handed teams are not beaten by excuses. Indiana's starters accepted bigger roles, trusted one another and played with the kind of selfless effort that coaches preach and fans love to see. That, more than any single shot, decided the game.