March 11, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; New York Knicks forward/guard OG Anunoby (8) dribbles the ball against Utah Jazz forward Anderson Garcia (0) in the second half at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Peter Creveling-Imagn Image The New York Knicks, who are locked in a tight race among the top three teams in the Eastern Conference standings, are scheduled to begin a generous schedule, starting with a game against the Indiana Pacers on Friday night in Indianapolis.
New York, a 1 1/2 lead over the fourth-place Cleveland Cavaliers, will close out a five-game road trip against the bottom-place Pacers.
Before Wednesday’s 134-117 win over the Utah Jazz, the Knicks had dropped three of their previous four games. New York can take advantage of a six-game stretch in which it faces Indiana twice, along with games against Golden State, Brooklyn, Washington and New Orleans. Those opponents are all under .500.
From the East’s second seed, 1 1/2 games behind the Boston Celtics, New York had to fight back from an 18-point deficit in Utah.
“It was a really good comeback win that we found a way to do on the road,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “We had 14 points and eight turnovers in the first half, many of them unforced. (Utah) had 27 fast-break points in the first half. We cleaned up both of those areas at halftime.”
New York is averaging 117.2 points per game.
With 15 contests remaining in the regular season, Brown and company would like to see the emergence of a dependable bench scorer, a role still occupied by veteran Jordan Clarkson.
Clarkson, 33, is averaging 8.9 points per game. But he scored a season-high 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the floor Wednesday.
“You couldn’t have asked for anything better for him to go out and perform the way he did,” Brown said. “We needed him. It shows he’s keeping his mind in a good place as well as his body. … We needed everything Jordan Clarkson brought to the table.”
Jalen Brunson leads New York in scoring, averaging 26.2 points per game, while Karl-Anthony Towns is averaging 20.0 points and 11.9 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Indiana lost its 11th straight game with a 123-108 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Thursday.
The Pacers’ losing streak isn’t their longest of the season. It fell by 13 consecutively from December 12 to January 6.
Indiana is a half-game behind the Sacramento Kings for the league’s worst record, but the Pacers saw the debut of center Ivica Zubac on Thursday. This midseason acquisition is the first since the Los Angeles Clippers made one at the trade deadline last month.
Zubac had eight points and six rebounds in the loss after missing more than a month with an ankle injury. The soon-to-be 29-year-old said he plans to use the final stretch of the regular season to get to know his new teammates.
“He has great hands, can put pressure on the rim and is good at making late passes,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said of Zubac. “He was a big factor inside (Thursday).”
Zubac appeared in 43 games for Los Angeles, averaging 14.4 points and 11 rebounds per game.
–Field level media
