Pacers" Aggressive Defense Proves Too Much for Knicks The challenge necessarily grows bigger as the N.B.A. playoffs progress, and the Knicks are a seasoned enough group to understand this basic truth. It was, however, not the size of the challenge but the actual size of the players standing in their path that put the first real crimp in the Knicks" postseason thrill ride. The Indiana Pacers stood taller Sunday afternoon, quite literally, and they played bigger. They also played harder and smarter as they pushed their way to a 102-95 victory in the opener of this second-round series, leaving the Knicks stunned and Madison Square Garden silent. After working to secure home-court advantage - and holding off the Pacers through the season's final weeks - the Knicks lost it in one frustrating, foul-filled afternoon. Carmelo Anthony struggled through foul trouble and shoulder pain while banging with the Pacers" David West, an inch taller and 15 pounds beefier. Tyson Chandler fouled out against Roy Hibbert, who had a 1-inch and 40-pound advantage. The Pacers grabbed 44 rebounds to the Knicks" 30, outscored them inside by 46-32 and scored twice as many second-chance points (20-10). "They just flat-out played harder than we did today," Anthony said. That was the key in their victory. They outplayed us; they outworked us. There was a lot of self-flagellation in the Knicks" locker room, with the players uniformly blaming their own failings for letting the Pacers steal the game. Game 2 is Tuesday, also at the Garden. For the first time since the postseason began, and really for the first time since the Knicks revived themselves in late March, this team has reason for concern. Anthony had 27 points and 11 rebounds, but he made just 10 of 28 shots, continuing a shooting slump that began in the first round against Boston. Over his last four games, Anthony is 35 for 110 (.318) from the field. He is now playing with a black wrap around his left shoulder, which was injured in Game 5 against the Celtics. The Pacers led for the entire second half, by as many as 16 points and by double digits for most of the fourth quarter. The Knicks closed the gap to 6 points in the final minute, on two free throws from J. R. Smith, but the rally sputtered. Aside from Raymond Felton, who scored 18 points and hit 8 of 12 shots, the Knicks" offense was a mess. Smith's postseason slump also continued as he made 4 of 15 attempts from the field, finishing with 17 points. The Knicks shot 43.2 percent from the field while allowing the Pacers to shoot 48.7 percent, mostly because Indiana was shooting closer to the basket. "That's who we are," Pacers Coach Frank Vogel said of his team's size advantage and physical play. He added, "It'll be a contrast in styles most of the series." Six Pacers scored in double figures, led by West's 20 points and Paul George's 19. D. J. Augustin pitched in 16 points off the bench. The Knicks got to this point - winning 54 games in the regular season, securing the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, pushing past Boston - by playing with a small lineup, deploying the 6-8 Anthony at power forward and exploiting his quickness against bigger defenders. That strategy might be in for a re-evaluation. Kenyon Martin, a reserve big man for the Knicks, made a thinly veiled pitch to rework the lineup, presumably with him at power forward and Anthony at small forward. Coach Mike Woodson used that alignment sparingly. "Melo has to wrestle and tussle with David West," Martin said. I don't think he should have to do that from the beginning of the game. We got size over there we can use to our advantage. Anthony tried to play down the issue, noting that the Knicks won twice and lost twice against the Pacers this season while playing with this lineup. "I don't want to panic and overanalyze that situation," he said. But he acknowledged that his foul trouble "put a little dent in the game plan." Anthony picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter, after tagging George on the arm during a jump shot. With Anthony on the bench, the Pacers quickly expanded their lead from 6 points to 16. Anthony got his fifth foul with 10 minutes 11 seconds left in the game, but he stayed on the floor, scoring 15 of the Knicks" 30 points in the final period. "I was never going to take Melo out of the game," Woodson said. He fouls out, he fouls out. Chandler did foul out, with 2:36 to play, after picking up two fouls in 10 seconds against Hibbert. Chandler finished with 4 points and 3 rebounds and was badly outplayed by Hibbert, who had 14 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 blocked shots. "Hibbert, he played better tonight," Woodson said. I got to get Tyson playing better than Hibbert. LeBron James fell one vote short of becoming the N.B.A."s first unanimous most valuable player. That first-place vote went to Carmelo Anthony, who greeted the news with a chuckle. "I'll take that vote," he said. Anthony, who was third in the balloting, said James deserved the award. "I came in this season with a total different mind-set than I have in the past, as far as me as an individual, as far as our team," Anthony said. My goal was to win 50 games this year, 50-plus wins, to win our division, to get out of the first round and hopefully make it past the second round. The highest Anthony had finished was sixth, in 2009-10, and he had never received a first-place vote. He also had 16 second-place votes and 51 third-place votes, 27 fourth-place votes and 17 fifth-place votes, finishing with 475 points, behind James (1,207) and Kevin Durant (765). Steve Novak was inactive for a second straight game because of back spasms.