INDIANAPOLIS -- Not again.

That's what the New York Knicks must have been thinking during the final seconds of a close game against the Indiana Pacers on Monday night.

Too often of late, the Knicks have been in a position to close out a game, only to find themselves on the short end of the final outcome.

But Monday, the Knicks weren't the ones heading to the locker room searching for answers about what went wrong late. New York scored the final six points to break a tie in the final 42 seconds of its 109-103 victory over the Pacers.

Carmelo Anthony broke a 103-103 tie with this shot over George Teague late in the Knicks' victory on Monday. Brian Spurlock/USA TODAY Sports

"We've been losing close games ... we lose another one like that, guys probably would've quit, called it a year probably," Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said.

The Knicks went into Monday having lost three of their previous four games. The three losses came by a combined six points, and in each game, they were leading with 32 seconds or fewer. Combine those close defeats with the off-the-court drama surrounding Carmelo Anthony, Phil Jackson and Derrick Rose, and it's understandable why Hornacek felt that way.

"I don't even want to think about that if this one had gotten away," Anthony said. "[I'm] thinking positive right now."

The win was just the fourth in the past 17 games for the Knicks (20-26), and it was one they didn't get easily. They fell behind by 14 points during a first quarter that included center Joakim Noah air balling a free throw that was also wide left of the rim. Hornacek spent plenty of time looking toward the roof at Bankers Life Fieldhouse as his team committed seven turnovers in the first 12 minutes.

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But then the Knicks, led by strong play from reserves Willy Hernangomez (10 points in the second quarter, 14 overall) and Justin Holiday (10, 13), had a 40-point quarter to turn that 14-point deficit into a four-point lead at halftime.

The lead ballooned to 17 points in the third quarter and remained in double digits until the middle of the fourth, when the uneasiness of not being able to close out a game started to set in again.

The Knicks went 2 minutes and 39 seconds without scoring, which allowed the Pacers to trim what was a 16-point deficit down to five. The Pacers tied the score at 103 on two Paul George free throws after Anthony fouled him on the perimeter while trying to deny the ball with 42 seconds remaining.

Anthony redeemed himself on the next possession when the Pacers switched, and the Knicks forward found himself matched up against the smaller Jeff Teague. Anthony was able to easily shoot over the top of Teague along the baseline to put the Knicks up 105-103 with 23.4 seconds left.

"It's a great feeling," Anthony said. "We should be proud of ourselves the way we were able to bounce back, come on the road and get a big win like this. Be up 17 and let them come back, but we sustained that lead, and to pull this one out on the road was big for us."