Candace Buckner

IndyStar

Cavaliers at Pacers, 7 p.m. Wednesday, FSI, ESPN

NEW YORK – The Indiana Pacers will make no apologies for winning ugly and barely beating seemingly subordinate teams. They have reasons, so many Exhibit A, B and Cs for anyone willing to listen, to justify why a team like the Philadelphia 76ers can outplay them through stretches. However on Sunday after the Pacers sweated through another near-loss experience against the New York Knicks, at least one player in the locker room grew tired of excuses.

"It’s unacceptable what we’re doing right now," Rodney Stuckey said.

Absolutely, they'll take the 92-87 win over a Knicks team that did not play Carmelo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis and Jose Calderon.

"Obviously you want to step on a team’s throat when you’re up 18 and put them away," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "We failed to do that the last two nights but we’ve got two Ws, so ..."

So, they're happy.

Then again on the second straight night, the Pacers lost another large second-half lead, had to send back in their aching superstar and collectively close out a game against the Knicks' skeleton crew inside a sold-out Madison Square Garden.

At the 5:48 mark of the third quarter, Indiana led 68-50 — the team also held an 18-point cushion against the Sixers on Saturday night. However just like in Philadelphia, the Pacers slowly yielded control. Only this time, they lost the lead and trailed by two with 1:18 remaining in the game.

"We got to stop biting ourselves in the butt, man," Stuckey said, continuing to sound off. "Last two games we have opportunities to put the game away in the third quarter. And I just feel like sometimes we come out lackadaisical and we can’t do that."

However with less than 30 seconds to go and the game tied, Paul George met Arron Afflalo in a one-on-one matchup. George, who left the game with a sore left ankle in the second half, still had enough in him to cross Afflalo and pull up from 19 feet to hit the game-breaking jumper. Also, Ian Mahinmi, the team’s worst free throw shooter, made a crucial set late in the fourth quarter, and Monta Ellis clinched the victory with another pair that followed a defensive stop after George’s bucket. The Pacers improved to 41-36 and leapt over the Detroit Pistons for seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

“It wasn’t at the buzzer but that’s a game winner for Paul George. Alright. That’s what that is. There’s progress there," said Vogel, who also mentioned the 4-for-4 free-throw shooting from Mahinmi and Ellis. "Lot of good things in terms of closing out a game."

The results are just fine. It's just the path to the Ws can not be ignored.

• BOX SCORE: Pacers 92, Knicks 87

"I get a little frustrated when we don’t put teams away when we have opportunities to," Vogel said, "but I think we’ve got a good group that if you put them in a playoff series, we can do some damage. We got to get there first."

In his 73rd game back from the broken leg injury, George finished with 20 points and nine rebounds. Recently, however, George has dealt with left ankle pain. When he left the game in the third quarter, Indiana led by 13. So George put a heat pack on his ankle, thinking his night was over.

"When I checked out we were up by a nice margin and I was preparing to be out for the rest of the game," George said. "When the game got back into a close game, I told (Vogel) I’d be available if you need me."

Though George made 4-of-6 shots in the third quarter to propel him to a strong performance, on the second night of the revamped rotation the second unit once again outshone the starters.

Stuckey scored 17 while Myles Turner provided 12 and C.J. Miles pitched in 10 for the faster-paced bench that all finished with a positive plus/minus number. The starters combined for minus-26.

In the first quarter, the starters mostly remained bound to the perimeter and led the team to making only 36.4 percent from the floor. However the second five picked up the quality of play. As the Pacers’ bench shaved down the Knicks’ five-point lead at the start of the second quarter, they looked for early offense. After a Kyle O’Quinn score at the rim, Turner sprinted away and second-unit point guard Ty Lawson tossed a long outlet pass, finding his big man in stride for a layup. Then, after a defensive stop, Stuckey grabbed the rebound and pushed downcourt for three seconds of offense that turned into a 3-point play.

When not driving to the rim — Stuckey made three of his four second-quarter field goals in the paint — the Pacers still had the outside element with Turner confidently attempting his midrange shots. In the quarter, the Pacers scored 36 points, opened a 14-point halftime lead and would need every bit of this cushion through the second half.

The depleted Knicks played without three starters but stayed aggressive, especially once the Pacers released their foot off the gas pedal. And thanks to inefficient scoring — the Pacers produced just 10 points through nine minutes in the fourth — the Knicks took the 87-85 lead with 1:18 remaining.

However, the Pacers saved themselves with Mahinmi’s game-tying free throws followed by George finding his sweet spot and rising and firing over Afflalo with 23 seconds to go.

"We’ve given up a lot of leads this year already," Stuckey said. "Last night we’re up 15-plus, tonight we’re up 15 plus and geez, just let them come right back. We can’t keep doing that. If we do that again, maybe we might not win the next game. All these games are crucial and we just got to come out with a sense of urgency."

Follow IndyStar Pacers Insider Candace Buckner on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.

Cavaliers at Pacers, 7 p.m. Wednesday, FSI, ESPN