In a game that the New York Knicks should have run away with, the Indiana Pacers narrowly missed an opportunity to steal one on the road and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals in the process.

The Knicks jumped out to a 7-0 lead at Madison Square Garden and never trailed on Thursday night to extend the series and force a sixth game. Indiana was without George Hill (concussion) and struggled mightily on offense, but still had a number of chances to close out the series.

“We were never out of the game. We just couldn’t get over the hump,” Roy Hibbert said afterward. “Unfortunately, we turned the ball over and we fouled. We didn’t have that last little push that we usually have.”

The Pacers were especially anemic on offense without their starting point guard, who was ruled out shortly before Game 5. Hill suffered the concussion on a hit from Tyson Chandler in Tuesday night’s Game 4. He watched the game from the dim trainer’s room after complaining of symptoms following this morning’s shootaround. His status for the remainder of the series is in doubt.

“Anytime you lose a guy like that, especially with the load he carries for us, it hurts,” David West said. “We had to play Lance [Stephenson] at the point guard for stretches, but we are a no-excuse group. We just didn’t play a complete enough game to close this team out on their home floor.”

Indiana shot 36.2 percent from the field, including 29.3 percent in the first half, and couldn’t convert easy points in transition or at the foul line. Turnovers have been a problem for the Pacers for the last month and the absence of Hill compounded the issue.

“It’s our Achilles heel,” Paul George said of turnovers at the podium. “In the fourth quarter there were a couple of possessions in a row where we just didn’t do a good job of taking care of the ball with their pressure. That’s just maturity for our team, it’s gotta be growth for us.”

D.J. Augustin, starting in Hill’s place, had an opportunity to earn himself some money this summer with a big performance. Instead, he finished with 12 points, two turnovers and not a single assist on 3-for-9 shooting in the 85-75 loss. He may have turned the ball over just twice in the box score, but he made several ill-advised passes. The most glaring came on a forced behind-the-back look to George on a botched fast break.

New York’s biggest lead was just 11 points, but they did a tremendous job of keeping the Pacers at arm’s length. A three by George narrowed the deficit to 75-71 with more than six minutes left in fourth quarter, but he answered it with an airball and the Knicks went on a 6-0 run to ensure victory.

Mike Woodson went back to his smaller lineup in this one after experimenting with Kenyon Martin as a starter in Game 4. The Pacers out-rebounded the Knicks by three despite the 10-point loss. The margin would have been larger had Hibbert not struggled with foul trouble.

He played just under 31 minutes and had nine points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Hibbert averaged 12.5 points, 10.7 rebounds and three blocks over the first four games.

The Knicks led 40-34 at the half and while the Pacers started the third quarter with an uncharacteristic flurry of points, they went on to commit 13 turnovers in the second half. Indiana really had no business challenging New York in this game when you consider how poorly they played.

“The game was right there for us,” West said with an exasperated look. “We had some costly turnovers, guys not following assignments. That goes down to concentration late in the game. We just didn’t make enough plays in this environment.

“You don’t get many opportunities to win a close-out game at Madison Square Garden and we just didn’t play well enough to complete that task.”

It’s no surprise that the Pacers constantly threatened because of their defense. They held New York to 41 percent shooting, sent them to the foul line just 17 times and limited them to seven made three-pointers. With a slightly-above average offense (and a healthy Danny Granger) this series just might have ended in a sweep.

Copeland Effect

Woodson finally removed Chris Copeland (29 combined minutes in the first four games) from his imaginary doghouse and the dreadlocked-rookie responded with inspiring play. In just under 20 minutes, he registered 13 points and four rebounds. He went 4-for-6 from the floor, hitting a number of timely three-pointers to answer Indiana rallies.

J.R. Smith was a bit better (4-for-11), but didn’t contribute enough for the Knicks to win without Copeland’s support. With Hill out I expected Raymond Felton to go off, but he didn’t capitalize on Augustin’s poor defense. Felton went 6-for-14 with 12 points and had four assists. He didn’t start really attacking until the second half when he suddenly realized that Augustin was incapable of sticking him.

Felton did do a great job of exposing the Pacers when Hibbert went to the bench with his fourth foul early in the third quarter. Ian Mahinmi has done a decent job of protecting the rim in the postseason, but New York got a lot of production from the roll man on pick-and-rolls with Felton with Hibbert on the bench.

Missing Freebies

It will be beaten to death between now and Saturday night’s Game 6, but the truth is that the Pacers may have ultimately lost this game at the foul line. You can’t let that happen in the postseason. They went 8-for-16 from the charity stripe in the first half and finished 19-for-33 (57.6 percent).

“It’s just guys not concentrating. We talked about it this morning; we need every single point out there,” West said. “I think we missed eight in the first half and that’s just guys not stepping up to the plate.”

Over their first 10 playoff games, Indiana shot 76.2 percent from the foul line. If they had shot that percentage on Thursday night, six additional points would have been scored and the entire complexion of the game would have changed.

Paul George vs. Carmelo Anthony

The energy that George has had to expend on the defensive end is really starting to show on the other end of the floor. He did another great job on Anthony -- helping hold Carmelo to 12-for-28 shooting for as many points as shot attempts -- but shot 7-for-18 himself.

George, who tallied 23 points, six rebounds and six assists in the loss, is shooting 34.8 percent (30-for-86) through five games, including an abysmal run from downtown. He is 10-for-42 (23.8 percent) from three in the series. He is also averaging five turnovers per game.

Conversely, Anthony is shooting 41.3 percent (50-for-121) against the Pacers.