On the subject of tanking for a preferred draft spot, the Pacers, winners of two straight, are failing miserably

They beat the Knicks with a full team. They beat the Nets with a skeleton crew. Cut...it...out.

While it’s always enjoyable watching the Pacers take down the Knicks, as they did Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, it does the local franchise no good to do so. None at all. You know this: They’re supposed to be tanking, positioning themselves to earn more ping pong balls for a draft that features three of the best prospects to come along in a while -- A.J. Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson and Cameron Boozer.

And then to try and tank, they sat all the front-line guys one night later in Brooklyn…and still knocked off the Nets.

So while some teams are out-and-out tanking, like the Jazz, who sat their top three players (Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jusuf Nurkic) in the fourth quarter of a close game Feb. 9 against Miami, the Pacers are engaging in the time-honored practice in a significantly more subtle way. So subtle in fact, you can’t even tell they’re trying to tank. (It should be noted that the Jazz won the game on a buzzer-beater, so ball don’t lie.)

I’m not here to tell you the Jazz are sleazy while the Pacers are noble. I mean, the Pacers did sit all their usual starters Wednesday night in Brooklyn, leaving them with seven healthy bodies in their game against the Nets -- yes, even with the All-Star Game break just a day away. But, in their defense, I would note that they’ve done this in back-to-backs throughout the season. And their starters did play heavy minutes in the overtime win over the Knicks.

I would also expect that this Ivica Zubac ankle issue is going to linger for a very, very long time. And when we get down to the final stretch of the season, I would expect the Pacers’ injury list to be longer than “Infinite Jest”. (I never finished it, for the record. Not even close.)

It’s tanking, sure, but it’s not in-your-face tanking, like what the Jazz are doing these days.