Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) – Danny Granger answered Carmelo Anthony’s game-tying bucket with the winning jumper just before the buzzer, giving the Pacers a dramatic 119-117 win to sweep a home-and-home series with the Knicks.
A game that featured 10 lead changes and nine ties in the fourth quarter was appropriately decided in the final seconds.
Anthony took Granger off the dribble along the left baseline and went in for an easy lay-in to tie things, 117-117, with 7.8 seconds to go.
Granger, who sat out Sunday’s win over New York with the flu, responded by getting space on Shawne Williams and nailing a 17-footer on the right side with three-tenths of a second showing.
A lob pass at the rim went for naught for the Knicks, who have lost three straight following a three-game winning streak.
Tyler Hansbrough led Indiana with 30 points, topping a career-high he set on Sunday by one point. Granger and Darren Collison chipped in 26 and 24 points, respectively, for the Pacers, who had lost six in a row coming into the home- and-home set.
Anthony tallied 29 points and nine rebounds, and Amare Stouemire totaled 21 and 10 in defeat.
The Pacers were up 29-27 after 12 minutes and never trailed in the second, which ended with them clinging to a 57-54 advantage.
Hansbrough exploded for 15 points in the third quarter, and his jumper gave Indiana its biggest lead, 87-72, with 2:23 remaining in the frame.
The Knicks came back and scored the final 10 points of the frame, and the fourth quarter was back-and-forth throughout.
Roy Hibbert, who ended with 15 points and 12 rebounds, broke a 112-112 tie with a runner, only to have Toney Douglas drain a three-pointer from the left corner with 41.5 seconds to play.
Collison drained a go-ahead jumper from the foul line, and Stoudemire couldn’t handle Chauncey Billups’ deft bounce pass in the lane to give Indiana the ball back.