MarJon Beauchamp scores 28 points, Knicks' comeback falls short in 91-88 loss to Pacers in Summer League action

Yahoo

6 days ago

The Knicks mounted a heroic 17-point comeback that ultimately fell short in a nail-biter against the Indiana Pacers in their fourth Las Vegas Summer League game, 91-88.
Here are some takeaways...
-MarJon Beauchamp had another huge night with 28 points on 6-of-11 shooting from three, and Tyler Kolek added 14 points, five assists and five turnovers.
-The Knicks were without top prospects Kevin McCullar Jr., Pacome Dadiet, Ariel Hukporti or Mohamed Diawara. They got some step-up games from Dink Pate, who scored 11, Anton Watson, who scored nine and Yudai Baba, who had nine points.
Kam Jones had a monster night for the Pacers with 21 points and 11 assists on 9-for-19 shooting from the field. Enrique Freeman recorded 18 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
-After appearing for only three minutes combined in the Knicks' last three games, center Lance Ware got the start and made an early impact with a slam and some drawn fouls in the opening minutes. Beauchamp continued his momentum from his breakout third game, hitting an inside floater, leaking out for a dunk and nailing a three for seven points in the first quarter.
Despite the early offense, the Pacers kept their defense in rotation and it was a close affair throughout the first. Ultimately, Indiana led 17-16 going into the second.
The Pacers got off to a 16-0 run behind a stalled New York offense and some strong deep shooting on the other end. Enrique Freeman went 5-5 and scored all 12 of his first-half points in the second quarter, including a monster alley-oop.
-Beauchamp was the only Knick with the knack and aggressiveness offensively, getting inside for the assist and converting a block into a transition and-one, even hitting a pull-up three. He had 19 at the half, however, the Knicks as a team once again struggled creating and converting from deep, going 5-for-15 to Indy's 8-for-17 in the first half as they trailed at the break 52-38.
Baba, who got the start tonight, got himself going to start the second half, hitting a three and a reverse layup. New York's offense still looked stilted with a quiet game out of Kolek following his banger in game three.
-They managed to find some success burning Indiana on back cuts and feeding Beauchamp some more, sparking a 9-0 run late in the period. He hit another couple of threes in the third as the Knicks cut the Pacers' lead to 68-59 going into the fourth.
New York's momentum carried into the fourth. Dink Pate hit a three, scored a lay-up and followed up with another three, plus the foul, totaling all 11 of his points in the final frame.
Anton Watson threw down a one-handed poster on Freeman to cut the Pacers' lead to two with just over two minutes to play, setting off the crowd and announcers. With 90 seconds left, Kolek hit an ankle-breaking step-back middie to tie it up.
After a Pacers free throw, Kolek drove the lane off a nasty spin to hit the and-one lay-up to put the Knicks up two. A Freeman finish evened the score, and after a Beauchamp miss, the Pacers retook the lead on free throws from an off-ball foul and a blown defensive rebound on a missed free throw from the Knicks.
Now down three, Kolek missed a quick two and a Beauchamp look from three, but Indiana missed two free throws. With one more shot at sending the game to overtime, Kolek missed a turnaround three as the Pacers escaped.
Highlights