INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana -- The New York Knicks might very well be the worst shooters, the sloppiest ballhandlers and the most unstable road team to play for a NBA championship. If they get that far.Two more games like the one they played Monday -- losing 83-77 to the Pacers -- will send the Knicks home for good.The Indiana Pacers tied the Eastern Conference finals at 2, not because of their defense, and definitely not because of their offense, but because they couldn't help themselves. The Knicks gave them the game, from an eyesore of a first quarter to a Three Stooges highlight reel of a fourth. By the time Charles Oakley winged an in-bounds pass past Patrick Ewing with 4.2 seconds left for their 26th and last turnover, the Knicks looked no more ready to win a title than the Toronto Raptors do.The Knicks' loss was worse than the record-setting 68-point debacle of Game 3; this time they had a legitimate chance to win at the end. They led 70-68 with 6:15 left, but seven turnovers from that point on sealed their fate and sent the series back to New York City for another pivotal fifth game.The biggest gaffe, the pass that whistled through Hubert Davis' hands with 6.8 seconds left and the Knicks down just 80-77, was typical of the day. Part could be attributed to some nasty, in-your-jersey defense by the Pacers, part to the Knicks' haphazard offensive execution and part to plain old sloppiness. Ewing had the ball on the right side at the three-point line, raised it as if to shoot, saw Dale Davis charge him, threw it to his right, and watched his eye-level pass to Davis sail out of bounds.Asked why the Knicks keep doing this in road playoff games, Davis said, "That's a good question. I wish I could understand. The court's the same, 10-foot baskets, everything. I don't know."The Knicks are out of answers. Road games are still one of the great mysteries of their existence; they've lost six of seven this year and nine of 10 dating to last year's East finals. They're 8-0 at home this year and have won 17 of their last 18 home playoff games."We just have to do it the hard way," said Pat Riley, referring to the Knicks' increased reliance on playing at home.If nothing else, the Knicks proved Riley right when he said they got blown out Saturday for a lot more reasons than Ewing scoring one point. Ewing scored 25 Monday, hit all seven free throws, had 13 rebounds and managed seven big points and a steal in the fourth.The rest of the team gave him little help, though. His teammates shot 33 percent, and the Knicks opened the game by missing 16 of 21 shots."We've got to be stronger with the ball, we've got to be smarter with the ball," Riley said, decrying their lack of "awareness" of how aggressive and physical the Pacers are at home.Pacer Coach Larry Brown credited his team's more aggressive defense for the Knicks' turnovers. "We're getting used to the way the Knicks play," he said. "If you don't play the way they play, you'll get killed. We're pretty physical now, and I think our guys are to the point where we won't back down."