The key storylines in Knicks-Pacers Eastern Conference Finals from revenge to a new villain
Where to start? The storylines are endless. The Knicks and Pacers faced off in the playoffs six times in eight years in the ’90s.Now, after reaching the Eastern Conference finals, they’ve restored that rivalry with a playoff matchup in back-to-back years. There are multiple reasons for revenge.
There are antagonists.There are clashing styles of play.
There is history on the line. Let’s dive into the series from all angles: The Knicks were upset by the Pacers in the second round last year.After taking a 2-0 series lead, they lost four of the next five games and lost Game 7 at Madison Square Garden. But the Knicks were decimated by injuries — Julius Randle and Bojan Bogdanovic did not play in the series, Mitchell Robinson only played one game, OG Anunoby missed multiple contests and Jalen Brunson broke his hand in Game 7.
Josh Hart was playing through an abdominal injury as well. There is good reason for Knicks fans to believe the Pacers got lucky last year.The Knicks are fully healthy this time around and can right last year’s wrong. The Pacers also eliminated the Knicks the last time they made the Eastern Conference finals, in the 1999-2000 season.
Revenge would be twice as sweet. Tyrese Haliburton is not on the level of Reggie Miller.Nobody is.But he fully leans into a villain personality.
After the Pacers eliminated the Knicks last year, he wore a shirt depicting Miller’s famous choking gesture during his postgame news conference. Haliburton and the Pacers’ ability to get under opponents’ skin — especially when in front of their raucous Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd — certainly is a factor.It can wear teams down as a series goes on.Speaking of wearing teams down, the Pacers style of play is hard to match game after game.
They play at an incredible pace — no pun intended — and speed opponents up faster than they’d want.In the regular season, they averaged 100.8 possessions per 48 minutes (seventh most in the NBA).
The Knicks ...