NEW YORK -- The Pacers faded in the second half and lost 109-105 to the shorthanded Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.

The Pacers have lost two straight and fell to 27-22, still in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. The surging Knicks improved to 32-17, winning their ninth straight.

Here are four observations.

Jalen Brunson, offensive rebounding spell doom for Pacers

The Knicks were without one of their All-Stars in Julius Randle as well as their game-changing recent addition in forward O.G. Anunoby, but their other All-Star carried them and the Knicks owned the Pacers on the glass.

All-Star guard Jalen Brunson got off to a bit of a slow start but went off after that, scoring 40 points on 15 of 30 shooting willing the Knicks back from what had been a double-digit deficit.

Brunson was just 2 of 7 from the floor for the first quarter, but he went 5 of 8 from the second for 13 points and he hit a floater in the lane just before halftime to get the Knicks back within seven points. That shot seemed to ignite him and the Knicks. He added another eight in the third and 11 in the fourth on 4 of 7 shooting.

The Pacers were up 91-88 when Brunson went on his own personal 7-0 run with a 3-pointer to tie the game and then two buckets to put them ahead. The Pacers went back up 100-99 when Brunson was poked in the eye by Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard, a foul was not called and Pacers big man Jalen Smith took the ball from Brunson while he was still on the ground and dunked it. However, Brunson then hit a bucket and drew a foul in the lane. He missed the free throw, but an offensive rebound led to a Dante DiVincenzo jumper that put the Knicks up 103-100. The Knicks controlled the game from there.

"He's going to be aggressive," Carlisle said. "The biggest play of the game was we trapped him, we made them take a difficult shot, then somebody lost him, they kicked the ball out and he made a difficult 3. That was a huge momentum play in the fourth quarter. It was a loss of concentration defensively. I don't know exactly who it was, but it's not important who it was, it's important that our team just didn't function in that moment the way we needed to."

The Knicks also dominated the Pacers on the glass, winning the rebounding battle 60-44 with 24 offensive rebounds to the Pacers' nine and 25 second-chance points to the Pacers' 13, helping New York outlast the Pacers, especially once Tyrese Haliburton came off the floor. Isaiah Hartenstein grabbed 19 rebounds himself and scored 12 points.

The rebounding figure was particularly disappointing because the Pacers' team defensive numbers were otherwise pretty good. The Knicks shot just 39.8% from the floor and 8 of 38 from 3-point range (21.1%). They were 30 of 80 from the field (37.5%) on first shots. They weren't even great at converting second-chance opportunities as they made just 11 of 23 second-chance field goal attempts (47.8%) but those were simply far too many opportunities.

"We got bullied on the glass," Carlisle said. "And it's disappointing because we're a very capable rebounding team. This is the main thing that we talked about with this game. We failed on the boards for sure. It's obviously the difference in the game."

Tyrese Haliburton looks more explosive but restriction continues

In his second game in his second return from a strained left hamstring, Haliburton seemed to have his legs under him much more than he did on Tuesday night in Boston, but he didn't spend any more time on the floor.

After playing 22 minutes including just six in the second half against the Celtics on Tuesday, Haliburton played a little bit less than that, playing 21 minutes and 54 seconds and again staying out for good after the third period. He scored 15 points on 6 of 10 shooting, drilling two 3-pointers on five attempts and throwing down a dunk on Knicks guard Dante DiVincenzo in the first half that led to DiVincenzo committing a technical foul by shoving him. Haliburton also finished with five assists against one turnover.

Carlisle wouldn't say why the formula the Pacers have used for Haliburton's minutes in the last two games has not included time in the fourth quarter. Haliburton acknowledged there must be a plan, but did not indicate exactly what it is.

"I think that rationale has probably been come to by our medical staff," Haliburton said. "I trust their decision. Obviously I want to compete at all times. I gotta do what I gotta do to stay on the floor and be able to play in games consistently. This is three games and four nights. I want to play tomorrow and if I can show I can do that, those start to go up. So I trust their decision making."

Aaron Nesmith continues to prosper with Pascal Siakam

It's possible no player has benefitted more from having Pascal Siakam on the roster than Aaron Nesmith. The All-NBA power forward's addition has led to Nesmith getting more manageable matchups on both ends of the floor as well as on the glass, and he's taken advantage. Heading into Thursday's game, Nesmith was averaging 18.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists in his previous five games -- all well above his season averages -- and shooting 58.1% from the floor and 44.8% from 3-point range.

He helped the scoring number on Thursday against the Knicks. He scored 10 points in the first quarter alone and had 17 at halftime on 6 of 8 shooting, hitting 3 of his 4 3-point attempts, but he didn't score after halftime. He did grab six rebounds.

Obi Toppin scores in double figures in return to MSG

Pacers forward Obi Toppin grew up in New York and was drafted by the Knicks, but struggled to get playing time behind Randle. Randle wasn't on the floor for the Knicks on Thursday, out with a shoulder dislocation. Toppin seemed plenty motivated to perform and he did. The former Dayton All-American scored 12 points on 4 of 10 shooting, and he got to see his younger brother Jacob, who was on the Knicks bench even though he didn't play.

"It was good (to be back)," Toppin said. "Obviously, it's the Mecca of basketball. It's home for me. Having my family here was great. My brother being able to be there and play on the other team was amazing."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers vs. Knicks: Jalen Brunson scores 40 points to beat Pacers