Short-handed Knicks drop Game 3 to Pacers, 111-106

INDIANAPOLIS — This game never should have been this close.

Not with the injury report the Knicks submitted to the league 30 minutes ahead of tipoff of Game 3 against the Indiana Pacers on Friday.

The Knicks weren’t only without three-time All-Star Julius Randle, backup center Mitchell Robinson and sixth man Bojan Bogdanovic, but they also lost OG Anunoby to a hamstring strain feared to linger longer than just Game 3 or 4 of this second-round series.

Not to mention Jalen Brunson was visibly impacted by a foot injury he sustained in Game 2 back at Madison Square Garden.

Against a desperate Pacers team entering the night in an 0-2 series hole — a mostly healthy Pacers squad whose secret weapon is depth with a rotation stretching nine to 10 deep — the Knicks weren’t supposed to be in the game.

Some on social media even suggested a battered Knicks team punt Game 3, that is: Lose on purpose to give their key rotation players a chance to rest and recover for Game 4.

Hell no.

Those are the words Donte DiVincenzo uttered some eight hours ahead of tipoff after Friday morning shootaround, words his Knicks embodied on-court at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse Friday night.

“We ain’t punting nothing,” DiVincenzo said after shootaround. “We coming in here to win the game.”

The Knicks didn’t win.

Instead, they came close, essentially losing on a 3-point heave from the Pacers’ last offensive option: Andrew Nembhard, who entered the fourth quarter with zero points on six missed shots before making a clutch layup, then a 30-foot 3 with 16.4 seconds left to give Indiana a three-point lead.

“I’m always gonna trust Drew,” said Pacers star Pascal Siakam in his walk-off interview. “Kept passing him the ball, he was wide-open. He kept missing, but we’ve got full trust in him.”

The Pacers went on to win, 111-106, to make it a 2-1 series with Game 4 back at the Fieldhouse on Sunday afternoon.

It’s a win the Pacers should have mixed emotions about: Their season stays alive, but against a depleted Knicks roster, they almost fell into an 0-3 hole.

DiVincenzo invoked Reggie Miller’s big-time 3-point shooting with 35 points on 7-of-11 shooting from downtown. Brunson struggled off of an adjustment by the Pacers, who changed the defensive assignment from the smaller Nembhard to the stockier Aaron Nesmith, who hounded the Knicks’ All-Star guard all night.

Brunson finished with 26 points but shot 10 of 26 from the field and got off to a 1-of-5 shooting night from the field.

The Knicks got a much-needed lift from Alec Burks, who played the entire second quarter and scored 14 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field in the period. Burks had only played 44 seconds through the Knicks’ first eight playoff games before head coach Tom Thibodeau threw him into the fire in the second frame of Game 3.

On one possession, he waved away Josh Hart before rifling off a contested 3 that ripped through the net.

Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton scored 35 points on 14-of-26 shooting from the field to go with seven assists and two steals. Siakam came alive late, seeking the size mismatch as Thibodeau went away from Precious Achiuwa and played Burks and Miles McBride down the stretch.

Siakam finished with 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting, and starting Pacers center Myles Turner added 21 points and 10 rebounds.

The Knicks now have a quick turnaround with a 3:30 p.m. tipoff against the Pacers in Game 4 on Sunday.

A short-handed Knicks team has much to be proud of after nearly stealing Game 3 in hostile Indiana territory on Friday.

At least that’s the glass half full approach. The Knicks also let an opportunity to go up 3-0 slip through their grasp.

And with Anunoby’s status murky for Game 4, and possibly Game 5, the toll on an already heavily-worked core will only increase as this team treks further into the postseason.