The Knicks pulled off something rare last night against the Pacers -- stealing a close game on the road. And make no mistake about it, this was a theft that seemed totally improbable until the last 40 seconds. Seven straight wins against the quality of opposition the Knicks have faced lately isn't a big surprise, but the way win number seven played out is still hard to believe.

It's hard to make too much out of many of the specifics of a game like this late in the season, when both teams have clinched playoff spots. Both teams really seemed to want to win, but the coaches allowed themselves a little more leeway with their lineups and substitutions than usual. There was a slight edge to the game, as both teams wanted to continue their run of good play, and the Knicks in particular seemed motivated to avenge the previous two losses.

The Pacers, frankly, seemed to have an easier time scoring out of their offense and had more balance, but the Knicks stayed close thanks to Billups and Anthony. Everytime the Pacers looked like they might extend their lead, Billups or Anthony would hit a three, or draw fouls and hit free throws. The Knicks' two best runs came at the end of both halves - at the end the first half, down 56-51 with 3 minutes left, the team scored 16 points on four three pointers and four FTs to take a 67-61 halftime lead.

The third quarter looked like the kind of quarter where the Knicks might pack it in after missing 16 of 20 shots (Billups and Anthony combining to miss 2 of 12 on their own), especially with the Pacers' Darren Collison exposing the Knicks' issues with quick guards and scoring 11 in the quarter, many in transition. The Knicks were still hanging in the game after Billups drew one of those lunging 3 point shooting fouls off a screen he's so adept at to tie the game at 82, but the Pacers turned the tables on the Knicks with 14 points in the last 3 minutes of the quarter to go up 96-87, capping off a 35 point quarter.

I thought at this point that it would turn into a blowout in the fourth with more audition time for the bench players, but D'Antoni surprised me by berating his players and urging them to play harder. The bench unit deserves credit for taking the coach's words to heart and scoring ten straight points at the start of the fourth to get the lead down to 98-97. The Pacers then got a three from Danny Granger to build a margin of 101-97, which is notable because it was only one of two baskets in the entire quarter that the Pacers got through the normal execution of their offense -- every other basket was a broken play or offensive rebound, which speaks to the quality of the Knick defense in the fourth (as well as some shaky execution by the Pacers).

The Knick defense in the fourth quarter was miles beyond the last time they played at Conseco for three reasons. One is that the guards (Carter and Billups) managed to keep Collison in front of them, and received good help (particularly from Turiaf) whenever a screen came. (In the last game, Amare's help was not a hard show or hedge, but a soft zone that gave Collison tons of room to operate). Second, the other defenders didn't overhelp and leave shooters open -- Granger was especially well defended, making only 1 of 7 shots in the fourth. Third, the defenders' hands were more active than usual -- Landry Fields deserves a gold star along with Turiaf for generating two critical turnovers (a strip of Hibbert in the post and a steal of a lazy Collison wing pass).

The Knick offense in the closing minutes of the game was not exactly a beautiful machine -- Shawne Williams and Billups missed all four of their three pointers -- but Carmelo kept the Knicks in it by making two 3 pointers and the Knicks got points off the opportunistic turnovers. It then came down to the final two possessions, where Melo again showed what makes him such a fantastic late game scorer with a jab step and rip through Granger's arm for the mid-range right wing jumper to put the Knicks up one. The final shot was almost a carbon copy of the play that generated Granger's previous game winner against the Knicks, except Melo managed to stay with him and block his shot, with Collison and Dunleavy missing put backs.

In the end, the Knick defense kept the Pacers scoreless for two three minute stretches: at the start of the quarter (10-0 Knick run) and the end of the quarter (7-0 closing game run). End game: a satisfying and unexpected win.

Game Notes:

*  Defense - Sort of Better: The Knick defense prior to the fourth quarter was far from great, but it looked better in stretches (especially with Turiaf or Jeffries in the game), and was even credited by Quinn Buckner on the Pacers announcing team. There was better communication on calling out Pacer plays and calling for help on the pindowns the Pacers like to run for Granger. (Granger still had 14 points in the 2nd, though, because of a few lapses early in the quarter). One adjustment that was heartening to see based on the way Hansborough torched the Knicks with jumpers the previous two games -- help would usually come from a guard whenever he had the ball at the elbow, usually just a quick swipe at the ball to disrupt Hansborough's rhythm.

*  Turiaf over Shelden Williams:  I've been a tad repetitive on this point, but last night made it clear -- if the opponent has a mobile post threat or likes to run a lot of its players in motion, Shelden has a tough time. Last night, he played less than ten minutes and gave way to Jeffries and Turiaf who played over 20 minutes apiece. I can only assume that Shelden starts to protect Ronny from his propensity to pick up fouls quickly -- in two minutes in the first quarter, Turiaf picked up two quick fouls and a technical. Not good. But there's no doubt who the most important interior defender on the Knicks is now.

*  Elephant in the Room:  Kind of amazing how much better the late game defense looks when the opponent can't force a switch on the perimeter on Amare, isn't it?

*  Billups - (Almost ) All the Way Back: Chauncey's shot selection and finishing close to the basket are still a mixed bag, but the difference in his effort last night versus the first two games back from the injury against the Pacers were huge. In particular, his ability to draw fouls and get to the line -- getting to the line 13 times as he did last night is a big part of what makes Billups so dangerous, and it's as important as production from Carmelo and Amare on the offensive end.

* Fields' Minutes vs Douglas in the Fourth: Last night was an interesting, possibly anomalous return to a fourth quarter distribution of minutes for the guards that was more common prior to the trade -- specifically Toney Douglas sitting the final 7:20 with Fields taking his place. On the surface, it made sense to have Fields in for defense, as the Pacers typically play Collision plus three "bigger" swingmen (Hansborough, Granger, George/Dunleavy) and Hibbert -- it's a lot to expect Douglas or Billups to guard Dunleavy or George. But given Fields' struggles since the trade, and Douglas' superiority as an offensive option, it was still an interesting choice.

Here are the distribution of minutes for Fields and Douglas in the fourth quarter since the trade:

Opponent	4th Q Mins - Fields	4th Q Mins - Douglas
MIL	12:00	12:00
CLE	7:16	8:38
MIA	2:13	2:37
ORL	10:36	4:47
NOH	**	**
CLE	6:06	3:28
ATL	9:25	9:37
UTAH	**	**
MEM	12:00	9:39
DAL	12:00	8:45
IND	0:00	9:20
IND	5:19	11:52
MEM	6:38	8:19
DET	2:37	12:00
MIL	5:55	12:00
BOS	7:28	6:31
ORL	4:06	11:03
MIL	4:45	10:25
CHA	12:00	0:00
ORL	3:53	12:00
NJN	0:00	10:14
CLE	1:01	10:35
TOR	2:36	12:00
PHI	7:10	12:00
NJN	**	**
IND	7:19	4:40

The results are split into three banks of games: 1) the four games right after the trade 2) the six games when Billups was hurt and Douglas was starting at point 3) the 16 games since Billups returned from injury. (The games with asterisks were blowouts where the distribution of minutes was effectively meaningless with so much garbage time)

One can see that Fields is still getting healthy late game minutes up until Billups returns from injury, then they start dropping precipitously, before making a comeback in the two games against playoff teams Philadelphia and Indiana. Douglas' minutes, meanwhile, start shooting up with Billups' return, with the exception of Boston (where Billups played more minutes than usual and Fields played for his defense on Ray Allen) and Charlotte (where Douglas didn't play in the last quarter because of fatigue from guarding Jennings so many minutes the previous night).

The obvious explanation for Douglas' increased minutes is the need for him to play alongside Billups in order to play defense against quicker guards, as Billups can usually hold his own (in limited stretches) against bigger guards or even small forwards. Fields, on the other hand, has seen his minutes diminish due to his offensive struggles as well as his struggles on defense against quicker perimeter players. Some of what's gone on recently is complicated by the expanded use of bench players and Amare's absence, but Fields nevertheless has seen his time cut in favor of Douglas and Shawne Williams' ability to stretch the floor with their shooting.

Why the reversal last night? I suspect the coaches, apart from wanting more length on defense, didn't like what they were seeing with the way Douglas tended to trail Collison off high screen and rolls rather than aggressively staying in front of him -- Toney's pressure from the rear can generate steals and turnovers, but Collision in the last two games has handled it very easily. It's also possible that Douglas' shoulder was bothering him (he banged it up in the 3rd quarter), though he looked very good early in the 4th putting a move on Dunleavy for a left wing jumper.

The decision to play Fields ended up working spectacularly, with those two game changing steals he made, and his solid defense overall. Note too, that in the last two games he's had 7 and 8 rebounds (his best rebounding games since the start of March), and it's possible the coaches felt Fields' rebounding would be useful on a team challenged on the boards (though Douglas is a good rebounding guard himself)

Maybe it was all a one time experiment, though the implications are interesting if the Knicks are going to meet the Celtics in the first round.  Increased confidence in Fields is a positive sign, as he'll likely continue to get important minutes for his ability to stay with Ray Allen (chasing shooters is something he manages better than staying in front of quick wings on isolation). Douglas, on the other hand, isn't quite as necessary for defense on someone like Rondo, as intense ball pressure is not the ideal way to defend him -- D'Antoni in the past has liked to put a bigger player on him and lay off and make him a shooter.

Douglas' numbers against the Celtics this year have also been underwhelming (7 points, 3 assists, just under 2 turnovers per game in 3 games). But there's too much he brings to the table for him not to be a big part of whatever happens in the playoffs, so I may just be overanalyzing a blip in the rotation. The last game of the season against the Celtics could provide a sign, though it's more likely to be a scrimmage with lots of bench players playing as seeds will have been clinched by then.