NEW YORK – Karl-Anthony Towns scored 21 points and 15 rebounds in his home debut with the Knicks, Jalen Brunson scored 26 points and New York beat the Indiana Pacers 123-98 on Friday night.

Mikal Bridges also scored 21 points and Josh Hart had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who bounced back powerfully from a 132-109 loss Tuesday in the NBA season opener in Boston.

Indiana All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton went scoreless and went 0-for-7 on 3-pointers, falling to 1-for-16 from behind the arc this season. Reserve Bennedict Mathurin scored 20 points.

Takeaways

Pacers: Indiana had one of the best offenses in league history last season and set an NBA playoff record by scoring 67 in its final trip to Madison Square Garden for a Game 7 win in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season. Shot 1% from the field, so nights like Friday’s figure to be rare.

Knicks: This is what the Knicks hoped to look like on both ends of the court after trading for Towns and Bridges. Towns’ ability to hit 3-pointers kept the floor well spaced for the guards, and with Bridges, OG Anunoby and Hart on the perimeter, the Pacers struggled to get into any sort of offense.

Key moment

The Knicks led by 7:29 in the first half when the Pacers brought four starters back into the game at the same time Brunson returned. New York outscored Indiana 25-10 from there, behind six points and four assists from Brunson, and led 61-45 at halftime.

Key statistics

After allowing an NBA-record 29 3-pointers in the loss in Boston, the Knicks held the Pacers to 30 (10%) from behind the arc.

Next

The Pacers host Philadelphia in their home opener on Sunday and the Knicks host Cleveland on Monday.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba