The Indiana Pacers might be tanking, but there’s no question they get up for the Knicks.

The Pacers, who own the NBA’s worst record in a season Tyrese Haliburton is sitting with a ruptured Achilles, entered Friday’s meeting with the Knicks at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse having lost 11 in a row, nine of which came via double-digit margins for a team positioning itself to select No. 1 overall in the NBA draft.

But against the team they eliminated from the playoffs two seasons in a row, the Pacers attempted to pull off the upset.

The Knicks, shorthanded without Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart, didn’t let them — and a monster performance from Mitchell Robinson helped punch a 101-92 victory over the Pacers on Friday night.

Robinson set a new career high with 22 rebounds to go with 12 points, two steals and two blocks in 31 minutes of action. The Knicks outscored the Pacers by 20 points in Robinson’s minutes, and nine of his 22 boards came on the offensive glass.

“We had some guys out, so I had to step up,” Robinson said in his walk-off interview after the game. “Basically I had to step up.”

The 31 minutes were a season high for Robinson under head coach Mike Brown.

“That was the first time this year,” he continued. “I’m a little bit worn out, but I’ve gotta work on my conditioning so I can actually play these types of minutes.”

Robinson’s 12 points tie for third-place on his season-high scoring list. He scored 21 points in the Knicks’ Dec. 19 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

“They’re starting to trust me a little bit more each and every game [offensively],” he said. “And they see me putting in the work in the gym, so the trust is getting there.”

Without Pascal Siakam, no Pacers player scored 20 points. Jalen Brunson scored 29 points on 11-of-25 shooting from the field, and OG Anunoby added 25 points, five assists and eight rebounds for the Knicks (43-25).

The Knicks’ victory moved them within one game of the Boston Celtics for the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed. The Celtics are 4.5 games behind the Detroit Pistons, who own the best record in the East.

So the Knicks, with 14 games left on the schedule, are all-but penned into the second or third seed, though they own just a 2.5-game cushion over the No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers.

“Stay connected, stay conditioned and be ready to go,” Robinson said of the Knicks’ upcoming schedule.

If the Knicks fall to No. 4 in the East, they will guarantee themselves a second-round playoff date with the Pistons, who are 3-0 against New York this season with wins by 37, 31 and 15 points (with both Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart serving a suspension).

New York’s first-round playoff picture remains uncertain: The Orlando Magic, Miami Heat and and Toronto Raptors are all within one game of each other and are clustered around the fifth, sixth and seventh seeds. The Atlanta Hawks have won eight games in a row and are tied with the Philadelphia 76ers for the eighth and ninth seeds, and the red-hot Charlotte Hornets sit 10th, six games ahead of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks.

So the Knicks, realistically, could draw any one of the Magic, Heat, Raptors, Hawks or Sixers in the first round. So long as they finish the season second or third in the East, they will draw the Celtics in Round 2, with the winner advancing to face the Pistons (provided they make it to the conference finals) in Round 3.

The Knicks’ victory over the Pacers (15-52) gave them a 3-2 record over their five-game road trip. They secured victories over the Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz and lost to both the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers in their California back-to-back.

The Knicks now return to Madison Square Garden, where they’ll play eight of their final 14 games. Next on the schedule, a rematch against the Pacers, this time at home.

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