Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart welcoming NBA fans as Knicks beats Haliburton, Pacers

Things may be a little different next time if the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers face each other again in the playoffs.

At least they will, if Tuesday’s game is any indication.

New York drove to a 128-115 win over Indiana at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and improved to 35-18 overall and 8-2 in the last 10 of the process. The pacers are trending in the opposite direction at 1-3 in the last four, although they are still a solid 29-23.

Knicks didn’t have Karl-Anthony cities when they lost to Indiana in seven games in the second round last season, but they certainly wish they did. After all, he was unstoppable on his way to 40 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and three steals on 14-of-23 shooting from the field.

He was not the only member of the visitors who impressed when Josh Hart helped compensate for Jalen Brunson’s quiet games with 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists on 12-of-16 shooting.

Pascal Siakam led the way for Pacers with 24 points, but it was cities and Hart that drew the reaction from social media:

Indiana fans would probably have assumed their teams drove to a win if anyone told them Brunson would have only eight points, but the hometown had no answer for cities. The five-time All-Star had no trouble scoring from different places with Myles Turner sidelined by damage.

Cities used his physical to score on blocks, extended his game over the arch with his shooting and even lightened as Pacers began to collapse on him.

Turner would give more resistance if these two teams face each other in the playoffs, but the cities were in full control in Tuesday’s game.

And no one took advantage of the extra distance that created better than Hart, which consistently cut into the field and also helped Knicks control the boards with his rebounding.

New York rolls into the All-Star break at this point and seems to continue to build speed when it returns to host Atlanta Hawks in another eastern conference match on Wednesday.