The Knicks and Pacers closed out their respective first-round series on Thursday, securing their spots in the Eastern Conference semifinals and lining up a playoff matchup straight out of the 1990s.
As Wheat Hotchkiss of Pacers.com details, back in the days of Patrick Ewing and Reggie Miller, a New York/Indiana series was something of an annual tradition in the Eastern Conference, with the two teams meeting in six out of eight postseasons from 1993-2000. Since then, the clubs have squared off just once in the playoffs – in the 2013 Eastern Conference semifinals – but the current iterations of the Knicks and Pacers are well positioned to rekindle that old rivalry.
Both teams are led by point guards likely to earn their first All-NBA nods this spring — Jalen Brunson for the Knicks and Tyrese Haliburton for the Pacers. While Haliburton is more of a distributor, having led the NBA with 10.9 assists per game during the regular season, Brunson has had to take on a far greater scoring load since Julius Randle suffered a shoulder injury in January. He averaged 31.5 points per game in 33 regular season contests after Randle went down and leads all playoff scorers with 35.5 PPG.
The Pacers, who finished the regular season with the NBA’s second-best offensive rating (120.5) have gotten much of their scoring this postseason from their frontcourt, with Pascal Siakam (22.3 PPG) and Myles Turner (19.2 PPG) leading the way while Obi Toppin (12.3 PPG) contributes off the bench. Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, and T.J. McConnell, meanwhile, have given the team important minutes in the backcourt and on the wing alongside Haliburton.
With Randle unavailable, the Knicks have leaned heavily on wings Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, and Donte DiVincenzo for three-and-D production to complement Brunson, with Miles McBride, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Mitchell Robinson also playing key roles.
Indiana won the season series between the two teams by a 2-1 margin, but the Knicks have home-court advantage and will enter round two as heavy favorites (-265 on BetOnline.ag). As good as the Pacers were offensively during the season, New York was nearly as effective – their 117.3 offensive rating ranked seventh in the league – and the Knicks were the far stouter team on the other end of the court, ranking ninth with a 112.4 defensive rating. Indiana placed 24th at 117.6.
Several Pacers have appeared in the playoffs before – including Siakam, who played a major role for the Raptors’ championship team in 2019 – but it’s Haliburton’s first postseason and this Knicks team played into the second round a year ago, so New York probably holds the slight playoff experience edge.
The Knicks may also be more comfortable playing at a playoff pace — their regular season mark of 95.96 possessions per 48 minutes was the slowest in the NBA, and they’ve slowed things down even further during the postseason (91.09). The Pacers, conversely, ranked second in the league with a 102.16 regular season pace and have had to adjust to a more deliberate style in the postseason — their first-round mark was just 92.89.
We want to know what you think. Are you expecting the Knicks to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000, or will the Pacers continue their unlikely run with another series victory? Assuming the Celtics are the other team in the Eastern finals, will the winner of this series have a legitimate shot to topple Boston and make the NBA Finals?
Head to the comment section to share your thoughts and predictions!
Knicks in six
I used to love those old sixers/pacers series. Reggie Miller and Spike Lee jawing at each other. The Davis’ knocking camby around and him returning the favor.
You mean the Knicks/Pacers and Camby wasn’t around until later. Oakley held his own against them and Smith was the one who got pushed around.
PACERS in 6.
Brunson v Luka in the finals
Only if Kyrie averages 50 and gets the Mavericks there.
Brunson is Shaq at point guard
If anything, Randle was holding Brunson back
They need versatile defenders and good shooters around JB, trade Randle while he still got value!
EC had only 3 good teams and injuries erased MIL and PHI… so it is irrelevant who gets to the EC finals none of them can beat BOS… MIL & PHI would have had a very good shot at it, they are better teams.
BOS has an easy run to the finals… but they will be annihilated by DEN.
That’s all good but Denver ain’t making the Finals.
They ain’t even making the WCF.
Who is a better team, Kings or Knicks?
Randle vs Sabas
Brunson vs Fox
Donte vs Monk
Hart vs Murray
Interesting match up.
Tyrese vs Jalen
Indy on paper has a better team. Knicks will have to put OG on Pascal the two former Raptors. Myles Turner with his shooting will mean Hartenstein and Robinson will have to play further from the rim which also really hurts their defence and ability to rebound which is such a big part of their game. When it comes to the depth it’s relatively even but again NY doesn’t really have anyone to match up with Obi Toppin.
NY is a hard place to play and they play with so much effort and hunger I sure it won’t be easy but I think Indy ultimately gets it done in 6
Nothing definitively says that the Pacers have a better team on paper. That’s just something you’re saying. The Knicks are the higher seed for a reason.
Indy took out the Bucks without their star forward… Knicks should be a similar deal…
What a simplistic and absurd assessment.
Thibs will play Brunson, Hart, OG and DiVincenzo close to 48 minutes for the entire series. Knicks in 6 or 7.
I thought the Knicks were wrong to trade Obi Toppin. We’ll soon see if it bites them.
That’s not really the focus of the series. Toppin is a decent backup player. Nothing more, nothing less.
Of course it’s not the focus of the series. Who said it was the focus of the series? But if Toppin goes off and averages 18 in the series I would say that’s biting the Knicks in the backside for dumping him.
Yeah, because that’s likely to happen, right? Considering he hasn’t averaged that all season…
Miken, no it’s not likely to happen but it’s an interesting small Side Story to pay attention to.
To me it’s not a particularly interesting thing because I don’t see him being a big factor. That’s just my opinion on the matter, but I could be wrong. We will see what happens.
@Gary – I guess they dumped him, but it was as much his choice as theirs. He asked to be traded to a team that would give him a chance to start, and NYK accommodated him by sending him to one of the few NBA teams that would give him that chance. Ironically, IND acquired Siakam, and Randle got hurt, and he no longer has a path to starting in IND, where he would have had one with the NYK. It wasn’t total benevolence; the NYK did the the deal into IND’s cap, so that gave them enough space to use almost the full MLE on DiVincenzo.
How well would Toppin have to play in this series before the NYK would think they should have kept him this year, disgruntled on the bench, versus signing DiVincenzo? Since the NYK wouldn’t be here to lose without DiVincenzo, I don’t think it’s possible.
DXC, I see what you’re saying but toppin may have some extra motivation to do more than he normally would against another team.
Probably not enough to bite the Knicks in the butt but it was just a simple no consequence statement at the top of the thread. It’s really no big deal but kind of a Side Story.., and hardly that because the Dude comes off the bench and is not a key contributor.
No doubt Toppin will be motivated to show his prior team that they didn’t value him enough generally; but he can’t have any issue with the trade.
Definitely not an issue with the trade because as you say he asked for an opportunity and was moved instead of re-upped on his contract. And yes, agreed his motivation will be to prove himself versus the team that didn’t think he was worthy of real minutes. We’re on the same page.
As a Knicks fan I’m excited. This series feels nostalgic with all the great battles in the 1990’s.
D generally outpaces O in the playoffs (as evidenced by all the below 100 point games in the first round), so I have NY in six. I think Indy’s going to prove they belong in the upper echelon of the East though, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see these two meet in the playoffs a few more times in the near future.
If the NYK can transition to playing basketball after the PHI series, then I expect they’ll win. Just have to avoid a hiccup in Game 1 at MSG. Either way, though, it will be a pleasure to watch games without Embid, his antics on the court and his narratives off of it.
iterations ?? …..
completely different teams and philosophy. According to 90% of this board. The game has totally changed . So ……
The great thing about sports and competition. Is it’s always different. Never the same. Too many moving parts for this to be a repeat …….
We need Randle ……. that’s first.
OG didn’t play as a Knick against Pacers. That’s truth.
Knicks play team D. And close out quarters. They will win. Knicks will need their depth against Pacers. Hope Thibs plays them 8-10 deep. Imo Knicks play bigger. Pacers still young. But if Pacers grow up and play. It can go 7.