Ford and the defense

NEW YORK - I went over to the Knicks locker room to catch up with former Pacer Al Harrington before Wednesday's game. The Knicks coaching staff had a message written on the dry-erase board: "We will score at will if we run and move the ball." The Pacers didn't let the Knicks score at will, run and move the ball in the second half. The blue and gold held New York to 27.8 percent shooting in the second half. What was even more impressive was that the Knicks only shot 11.8 percent in the fourth quarter. "Roy and Solomon started to become more aggressive defending pick-and-rolls, we started to get our hands on more balls," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. ********************************************** T.J. Ford finally played a key role for the Pacers. Ford, who spent the first eight-plus minutes of the fourth quarter on the bench, stepped in and carried the Pacers offense after Danny Granger fouled out. Ford scored eight straight points and had 12...