NEW YORK _ When Giants coach Bill Parcells spoke about no medals for trying, he didn't know what life would be like for the Knicks.
In their first game under interim coach Mike Miller, the Knicks tried. And after losses of 44 and 37 points in their previous two games, that was something. A spirited comeback died when Julius Randle's free throw with one-tenth of a second remaining bounced off the back rim in a 104-103 loss to the Pacers on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
Indiana is not at the level of Milwaukee or Denver, the teams that demolished the Knicks in the previous two games and led to the team's decision to relieve David Fizdale of his duties. Plus, Indiana was on the second half of a back-to-back and without star Malcolm Brogdon. But the Knicks' ninth straight loss dropped them to 4-19.
The Knicks led by as many as eight points early, but saw the game slip away, as has happened so many times this season. The Pacers built an 11-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but Elfrid Payton sparked a comeback with a three-point field goal, a steal and a dunk, and Marcus Morris added a three-pointer to cut the deficit to one.
Maybe it had to do with the coaching change or maybe it was the players-only meeting that preceded the practice and coaching change Friday, but the Knicks fought this one to the finish.
The Knicks were down 104-100 when they had five shots on one possession but came up empty.
With the Pacers going cold, too, the Knicks had chance after chance but misfired on eight straight shots before Morris finally connected in the lane with 1:39 to play to bring the Knicks within two. But Randle and Morris both had shots blocked by Myles Turner and Payton missed on a short shot in the lane, giving Indiana the ball back with 30 seconds remaining.
After a timeout, T.J. Warren missed and Payton swiped the rebound from Turner. But when Payton fed Mitchell Robinson cutting down the lane, Turner rose to block that shot, too. Randle grabbed the loose ball and was fouled with one-tenth of a second remaining. He made the first free throw but misfired on the second, and time expired.
