Tim Hardaway Jr. was headed toward hero status. Then the final three minutes happened, resulting in another late Knicks’ loss against a quality opponent.
Can you say Déjà Knicks Blue?
The Knicks’ one-game winning streak ended Wednesday night in a 107-101 Garden loss to the Pacers as Victor Oladipo got the better of Hardaway down the stretch.
“That’s what All-Stars do,’’ Knicks coach David Fizdale said.
Another Knicks downfall started inside midcourt when Hardaway was stripped by Oladipo near the top of the key late in the fourth quarter with the Knicks holding a one-point lead. Indiana’s defensive wizard broke in for runaway stuff to give the Pacers the lead — for good — at 98-97 with 2:40 left.
That was all part of a 9-0 run that put the Pacers up six with 1:23 left and wasted Hardaway’s game-high 37 points, including a career-high seven 3-pointers on 11 attempts.
The Knicks fell to 2-6 — stung by losses to playoff stalwarts such as Boston, Golden State and Milwaukee that were decided deep into the fourth quarter.
“You can only go through so many games and say it’s the youth,’’ Hardaway said. “There’s got to be a point in time we have to buckle down and close the games out, especially with a four-point lead with three, four minutes left.’’
When the Knicks rallied within two points with 30 seconds left, Oladipo ended the madness by draining a left-corner 3 with 17 seconds left for the final dagger. That was set up when the Pacers shot an airball, but Thaddeus Young saved it and whipped it to Oladipo, who finished with 24 points, 10 in the fourth quarter.
“Oladipo is an elite defender,’’ Hardaway said. “You got to give him credit. I’ve been going against the guy since 2010, from the Big Ten to now. He gets a little more elite every year, improves in all aspects. He’s a great defender and crunch time they put me on him and he made plays.’’
Fizdale was unhappy the offense got disorganized late and blamed a lack of communication, with his players not digesting the plays.
“We froze up in the last three, four minutes,’’ Fizdale said. “We didn’t get into anything. I was getting the deer in the headlights look at me in the fourth. We had six turnovers in the fourth and you can’t do that. We have to get better in late-game situations. It’s usually an area young teams struggle.”
After Oladipo’s driving dunk following the steal, Young scored on a turnaround for a 100-97 advantage with 1:55 to go. Hardaway followed with a rim-out on a long, forced 3-pointer. Oladipo finished the 9-0 run with a 3-pointer over Hardaway with 1:23 left and a six-point lead before the final punchout.
Fizdale wouldn’t blame Hardaway for forcing anything late because nothing else was materializing. The Knicks’ leading scorer had his most efficient outing, shooting 10-of-19 from the field, 10-of-10 from the free-throw line. He did everything — until late.
“He’s our guy — he had to take tough shots,’’ Fizdale said of Hardaway, who became the first Knick to score at least 24 points in seven of the first eight games of the season since Patrick Ewing in 1990. “He had a good thing going and the way our offense stalled, someone had to get a good look at the rim.”
Damyean Dotson continued his hot hand since entering the starting lineup, scoring 13 points and burying a right wing 3-pointer to put the Knicks up four with 4:24 left before they fell apart to the playoff-savvy Pacers (5-3).
With their 3-point shooting, the Knicks appeared they would survive a career night by Indiana big man Domantas Sabonis, who dominated inside for 30 points and nine rebounds in 20 minutes, making all 12 of his shots, but fouled out late.
The Knicks couldn’t stop the brutish Sabonis on the pick-and-roll.
“We didn’t execute our coverage well, no matter who I put in that mix,’’ Fizdale said.
The Knicks used the same youthful starting lineup for the third straight game — Mitchell Robinson and Noah Vonleh (14 points, 10 rebounds) up-front with three guards, Dotson, Hardaway and Frank Ntilikina.
Robinson, making his third start, blocked two shots in the opening half but played sparingly in the second half. He rejected Myles Turner at the perimeter then blocked Young inside. Fizdale didn’t play him in the fourth as he tries to figure out who best to close games.
“A lot of good could come out of this,’’ Hardaway said. “We’re battling playoff teams down the stretch and to the end. We got to keep fighting and close it out in crunch time.’’