Pacers? Knicks? Should Be Incredibly Close, But We Make A Prediction, Anyway

May 21, 2025

If the Pacers are anything like they’ve been since the start of the New Year, they should be the team representing the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals — homecourt advantage be darned.

But their conference finals matchup with the Knicks is wildly intriguing nonetheless. Game 1 is Wednesday at Madison Square Garden (8 p.m. EST, TNT).

This truly is the tale of two teams that play uniquely different styles. Indiana likes to push the pace, spread you out and knock down 3-pointers. But extend the defense too much, and all of a sudden Tyrese Haliburton is driving the lane and getting it done near the hoop.

Haliburton and the rest of the Pacers can also pick you apart down low with the likes of Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner, as we saw in the conference semifinal series against Cleveland. The Cavaliers used a 3-2 zone to confuse the Pacers in Game 3 — but coach Rick Carlisle quickly adjusted and Game 4 turned into a rout. It seems like no matter what defense you throw at the Pacers, they find a way to counter, and then some.

Along with all that, Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith are wildly underrated on both sides of the ball, and Bennedict Mathurin is a major nuisance (to opponents) off the bench.

Meanwhile, for a while there, it looked like the Knicks might not even get out of the first round. The Pistons gave them fits and seemed destined for the upset. Fortunately for New York, Jalen Brunson made all the winning plays.

Then in the second round, the Knicks got a total team effort, with the likes of Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart coming up big at certain times. New York won the first two games at Boston before losing Game 3 at home. That’s just the Knicks Way.

But then Jayson Tatum went down, and that was that. No matter, if there’s one thing we can say about these Knicks, it’s that we have no idea which team will show up. The one that’s been able to win series despite it all is the one we’ve gotten so far. That makes you think the Knicks have a chance. While Indiana wins with style and sometimes surprise, New York just grinds it out.

So, yes, something’s gotta give. We suspect it will be the Knicks, who seemingly have been living on borrowed time since the NBA playoffs began.

New York has been good, a great story after a little bit of a letdown of a regular season. The Pacers, on the other hand, have been absolutely fantastic for five months.

These games should be close and may even get chippy. But Indiana should have just enough to finish the job at the end. Pacers in six.