The Eastern Conference Finals are set to take place on Wednesday between the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers.
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These two rivals are set to meet on the biggest stage yet. They have a ton of history between them, and this matchup is set not to disappoint.
This series will be one worth watching as it will feature one of the best closers in the game today, Knicks star guard Jalen Brunson, and one of the youngest stars in the league, Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton.
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These two star players will do their best to lead their team to the NBA Finals for the first time in their careers.
Who Has Home-Court Advantage?
The No. 3 seed, the New York Knicks, will host the No. 4 seed, the Indiana Pacers, for the first two games. Game 1 will be played on May 21 at 8:00 p.m. PT.
This is the Knicks’ first conference finals appearance since 2000, when they also faced the Pacers. They ‘ve come up short a handful of times prior to this season, and they’ll look to take advantage of it this time, as they will have homecourt advantage this series.
How Did Each Team Get Here?
The Knicks’ journey to the Eastern Conference Finals was anything but smooth. They first had to get past the sixth-seeded Detroit Pistons in a hard-fought opening round, where they impressively secured three of their four wins on the road—including a series-clinching Game 6 victory.
In the second round, New York faced the formidable No. 2 seed Boston Celtics, a team many believed was primed for another title run. Instead, the Knicks flipped the script early with two dramatic comeback wins in Games 1 and 2, stealing homecourt advantage. Despite dropping Game 3 at Madison Square Garden, they responded with a strong Game 4 performance to go up 3-1, ultimately closing out the series in dominant fashion in Game 6 on their home floor.
The Pacers’ playoff run thus far has been smooth sailing. In the first round, they took care of their division rival, the Milwaukee Bucks. The Pacers defeated the Bucks in five games, finishing them off with a comeback in Game 5 that saw them down seven points inside of 40 seconds left in overtime.
In the following round, the Pacers took on the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers—a matchup most expected the Cavs to control. But Indiana had other plans. They grabbed Game 1 on the road and pulled off a stunning comeback in Game 2 to seize homecourt advantage.
Cleveland responded with urgency in Game 3, coming out strong, but couldn’t sustain that momentum. The Pacers bounced back with a critical win in Game 4 and followed it up by outlasting the Cavaliers in a hard-fought Game 5 to wrap up the series and advance.
Regular Season Results
The Knicks came out on top in the season series, winning two out of three games.
Two of those contests were in Indiana, and two contests were early in the season.
The last time these teams played each other was a bit after the trade deadline and before the All-Star break. The Knicks came out on top by 13 points, 128-115. Knicks star center Karl Anthony Towns was the star of that game, recording 40 points on 14-of-23 shooting from the field.
Players to Watch
While all eyes will be on the star players in this series—Brunson for the Knicks and Haliburton for the Pacers—any of the others could make a name for themselves in this seven-game series.
Aside from those two, one player from each team who could be a difference-maker is Pacers’ Andrew Nembhard and Knicks’ Mikal Bridges.
Nembhard will be vitsl as he wil kiely take the assigemnt on brubon. Nembhard is quick and agile and could more than hold his own on that end. He could also drop 15+ points on the other side of the court if needed.
As for Bridges, we saw that if he is himself on the offensive end, the Knicks are hard to beat. Can he do it night in and night out when needed for the Knicks to appear in what would be their first NBA Finals since 1994?
Prediction
These old-school rivals will battle to the end. The Knicks should win on paper, but the Pacers are too deep and talented on both sides of the ball to lose this one.
Pacers in 7.
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