Paul George, the breakout star of the Indiana Pacers, was hurtling back to Earth, specifically, the Madison Square Garden floor. 'Knickstape' cruises to its seventh straight win, the first of the Phil Jackson era!

The New York Knicks beat the Indiana Pacers, 92-86. Each team's superstar became a catalyst for their team's play.

Paul George had a dismal shooting day, hitting a horrid 4 for 17 from the field, with a measly 1 for 8 in the first half. He had trouble with Iman Shumpert, against whom he was only 1 for 6. This is a peculiar slump for George, who was once touted as an MVP candidate at the start of the season. He is now  8 for 31 in his last two games. In their two previous showdowns with the Knicks, George had averaged 30 points. (stats from ESPN)

On the other hand, George's match-up Carmelo Anthony scored 34 points and totally dominated the battle of the small forwards.

Anthony made a decent 8 for 14 for 19 points when he faced up against last year's Most Improved Players. It's a far cry from their match up in last season's playoffs. Melo was only good for an average of  13.2 points on 34 percent shooting in last year's Eastern Conference semifinals. 

The Knicks $ 40 million dollar forward tandem of Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire combined to shoot 20 of 38 from the field. Their teammates went 12 for 44. STAT, as Stoudemire is called, played one of his best games of the season. He had 21 points, and is now averaging 16.9 points in his eight starts this season. 

J.R. Smith, the Knicks guard who was much maligned this year, lauds the great play of the team's stars. "I think this stretch has been the best they've played together. They're playing extremely well, feeding off one another, taking turns, which is hard to guard because you've got a guy going inside outside, pick and pop. It's tough to defend because you can't take one thing away." 

This is a grand welcome for Phil Jackson, the NBA's most successful coach with 11 championships as their new President for Basketball Operations. Jackson was introduced to the fans and merited a standing ovation.

Stoudemire admits he was inspired by Phil Jackson's presence. Talking to the Associated Press: "With a guy like that around it creates a winning mentality, it creates an atmosphere that's pretty golden and we've got to capitalize on that."

The Knicks had completed a bizarre 180 degree turn. They had seven straight wins immediately after they took seven straight losses.