Julius Randle showed why he was an All-Star selection on Domantas Sabonis.
In a head-to-head physical confrontation between the two powerful forwards, Randle won the box score battle and match, 110-107, pushing the Knicks (17-17) to .500 for the first time since January.
Randle finished with 28 points and 10 boards in 42 minutes, but was also supplanted for defensive purposes on the game’s biggest possession. With the Pacers trailing 2 with the ball, Sabonis’ pass was deflected by Derrick Rose and fell into the hands of Frank Ntilikina with 4.7 seconds left.
Ntilikina was fouled and made both free throws to seal the victory.
The Pacers and Knicks are among seven Eastern teams that entered on Saturday separated by one game or not, grouped between fourth and tenth place. The win led New York to a fourth-place draw with the Raptors. However, it’s too early to look at the leaderboard.