A couple of top players were already on the bench, then leading scorer Danny Granger joined them after fouling out with plenty of time remaining.
No matter. The Indiana Pacers won it with defense.
T.J. Ford scored eight of his 16 points in the final 3:12, and the Pacers won for the first time this season, holding the New York Knicks without a field goal for the final nine-plus minutes Wednesday night in a 101-89 victory.
“That has to be the signature of our team, that regardless of what we’re doing on the offensive end, we can always stop you on the defensive end, and we did that tonight,” Granger said.
Dahntay Jones had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Pacers (1-3), who came in as one of the league’s three winless teams and had lost all three games by double digits. Roy Hibbert added 15 points and 14 rebounds.
Brandon Rush had 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Pacers pulled it out despite losing Granger, who led them with 21 points, to fouls with 3:38 remaining. Indiana forced New York to miss its final 12 shots.
“I’m happy things worked that we’ve been working on for the past couple of weeks and to know that our defense can anchor us,” said Jones, a defensive stopper last season for Denver who helped Indiana hold New York’s starting backcourt of Chris Duhon and Larry Hughes to 6-of-23 shooting. “We were communicating and getting stops and trying to dig out rebounds.”
Al Harrington scored 22 points for the Knicks, who shot 2 for 17 in the fourth quarter. David Lee had 20 points and 19 rebounds, but New York hit 39.5 percent for the game.
“Our problems in this game started and ended on the offensive end,” Lee said. “We talk a lot about our defense, but our offense in the second half, for us to shoot under 40 percent isn’t a good sign.”
RAPTORS 110, PISTONS 99: Andrea Bargnani had 22 points and 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the season, and Chris Bosh scored 25 points to pace host Toronto.
Ben Gordon had a season-high 30 points for the Pistons.
CELTICS 92, TIMBERWOLVES 90: Kevin Garnett had 12 points and 11 rebounds in his third game back in Minnesota since he was traded in 2007, helping Boston remain undefeated.
Rajon Rondo scored 14 of his 18 points in the third quarter for the Celtics (6-0).
MAGIC 122, SUNS 100: Ryan Anderson had 20 and 10 rebounds, Dwight Howard scored 25 and host Orlando defeated previously unbeaten Phoenix. Playing without injured Vince Carter and suspended Rashard Lewis, the Magic built a 23-point lead in the third quarter to pull away.
HEAT 93, WIZARDS 89: In Washington, Dwyane Wade scored 40 points, including a go-ahead jumper with 25 seconds remaining, to lift Miami.
It was the first time Wade reached 40 points since getting a career-high 55 in April against New York.
NUGGETS 122, NETS 94: Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony woke up the unbeaten Nuggets in a 44-point third quarter, and visiting Denver continued its best start since 1985-86 with a victory over winless New Jersey.
LAKERS 103, ROCKETS 102, OT: In Houston, Kobe Bryant scored 41 points, Andrew Bynum added 17 points and 17 rebounds and Los Angeles won in overtime for the second straight game.
HORNETS 114, MAVERICKS 107, OT: Peja Stojakovic hit a game-tying three-pointer in the final seconds of regulation and Chris Paul scored six of his 39 points in overtime to boost host New Orleans.
HAWKS 113, KINGS 105: In Sacramento, Calif., Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford had 26 points each to pace Atlanta.
Kevin Martin, who was playing with bruised right wrist, had 29 points and 11 rebounds and Jason Thompson added 22 points for the Kings.
