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The New York Knicks are currently gearing up for their Eastern Conference Finals matchup vs. the Indiana Pacers, with the right to go to the NBA Finals on the line. New York got to this point with an epic Game 6 win over the Boston Celtics to punch their first ticket to the NBA's version of the Final Four since the turn of the century.
The series versus the Pacers is a rematch of last year's conference semifinals matchup between the two teams. Although Indiana's win in that series was largely chalked up to injury luck, the Knicks know that they still have a dangerous opponent on their hands.
“The randomness, the guard skill. It's a mix of everything… I can go through a list of all the guards too, if you want me to name them, I can name every single one of them,” said Mikal Bridges, per Knicks Videos on X, formerly Twitter.
Bridges will be one of the Knicks defenders tasked with trying to slow down Indiana's offensive attack, which gave the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers more than they could handle in the second round of the playoffs.
A potentially epic series between Knicks and Pacers
The budding rivalry between the Pacers and Knicks represents a throwback to the several times the teams faced off in the playoffs during the 1990s when Reggie Miller became public enemy No. 1 in New York City.
While these two teams may not resemble those Pacers and Knicks squads stylistically, the vitriol between the fanbases is still there as one glance at social media (or even the streets of Manhattan) this week would reveal.
The Knicks are attempting to secure their first trip to the NBA Finals since the Clinton administration, and they'll have the luxury of home-court advantage for the series (although New York is a mediocre 3-3 at Madison Square Garden this postseason).
In any case, Game 1 between the Knicks and Pacers will tip off at 8:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday from Manhattan. The entirety of the series will be carried nationally by TNT in its final NBA broadcasts.
