NEW YORK — Bigger, badder, and so far better.
Physical beat finesse Sunday, as the Indiana Pacers outworked and outmuscled the New York Knicks in a 102-95 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
David West scored 20 points and Paul George added 19 for the Pacers, who outrebounded the Knicks 44-30, showing the smaller team that in the rugged East, size does matter.
“I thought guys did a good job just putting them on their heels,” West said. “We were attacking, we were aggressive.”
D.J. Augustin had 16 points for the Pacers, who built a 16-point lead while Carmelo Anthony was on the bench in foul trouble in the third quarter, and easily held on to spoil the Knicks’ first second-round game since 2000.
Anthony finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds, but was frustrated by the Pacers’ tough defense and by the referees. He shot 10 of 28 from the field and was perhaps thrown out of sync having to defend West, a natural power forward, inside.
“Right now they’re just being really physical with him, they’re trying to bang him, they’re trying to frustrate him,” Knicks point guard Raymond Felton said. “But we’re going to be fine, he’s going to be fine.”
The Pacers, who allowed the second-fewest points per game and the lowest field goal percentage in the league during the regular season, mixed in solid offense as well. They outscored New York 59-38 across the middle two quarters and were comfortably ahead throughout the fourth.
Roy Hibbert scored 14 points in thoroughly outplaying counterpart Tyson Chandler, and George Hill also had 14 for the Pacers, adding seven rebounds and six assists.
Lance Stephenson added 11 points and 13 rebounds playing in his hometown.
J.R. Smith scored 17 points but was 4 of 15. Felton had 18 and Kenyon Martin added 12 for the Knicks.
Pacers 102, Knicks 95
INDIANA (102)
George 5-14 7-8 19, West 8-15 4-5 20, Hibbert 6-9 2-2 14, Hill 5-17 2-2 14, Stephenson 5-9 1-3 11, T.Hansbrough 3-6 2-2 8, Augustin 5-6 2-4 16, Young 0-0 0-0 0, Mahinmi 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 37-76 20-26 102.
NEW YORK (95)
Anthony 10-28 6-6 27, Shumpert 4-11 2-2 11, Chandler 2-2 0-0 4, Felton 8-12 1-1 18, Prigioni 0-1 0-0 0, Smith 4-15 7-10 17, Martin 5-8 2-4 12, Kidd 0-1 0-0 0, Copeland 2-3 0-0 6, Camby 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-81 18-23 95.
Indiana 22 30 29 21 — 102
New York 27 19 19 30 — 95
3-Point Goals—Indiana 8-23 (Augustin 4-5, George 2-6, Hill 2-9, West 0-1, Stephenson 0-2), New York 7-19 (Copeland 2-3, Smith 2-6, Felton 1-1, Anthony 1-4, Shumpert 1-4, Kidd 0-1). Fouled Out—George, Chandler. Rebounds—Indiana 54 (Stephenson 13), New York 42 (Anthony 11). Assists—Indiana 21 (Hill 6), New York 15 (Prigioni 6). Total Fouls—Indiana 21, New York 21. A—19,033 (19,763).
