The Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks are facing off in the Eastern Conference Finals, as one team will be advancing to the NBA Finals. These two teams have quite a history with each other after facing each other last season in the playoffs during the second round. That series went seven games, but the Pacers were able to walk away with the win, as the Knicks were dealing with injuries to some of their key players.
This time around, the Knicks are healthy, and so are the Pacers, with only one player on the injury report. This should set up for an epic battle between both teams, who have been at the top of their game since the playoffs started.
The Pacers knocked out the Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the first round and then went on to defeat the No. 1-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round. Their offense has been key to their success, but it's been the defense that has stepped up in big moments.
For the Knicks, they were able to take down the Detroit Pistons in the first round, and then defeated the Boston Celtics in the second round, who were the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference. Now, the Pacers and Knicks will come together, and the last team standing will punch their ticket to the finals.
Pacers and Knicks set for playoff rematch




Last year, the Pacers were able to knock out the Knicks in the second round. In that series, the Knicks didn't have most of their key players because of injuries. Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson were sidelined, and Bojan Bogdanovic was injured in the playoffs. OG Anunoby injured his hamstring in Game 2 of that series, while Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson were still playing despite injuries.
Brunson says that a year later, losing to the Pacers still bothers him.
“I mean, it still kind of bothers me,” Brunson said. “But I mean, I feel like once you get into the season, you start thinking about the next game and everything like that. Obviously, there was a missed opportunity last year playing [the Pacers] at home in Game 7. Regardless of who we had out there, I don't generally know the timetable, but it definitely hurt.”
Fast forward to now, and the Knicks have new players and are healthy as they look to get their revenge on the Pacers for what happened last season.