2024 NBA Playoffs: East Semifinals: #2 New York Knicks vs #6 Indiana Pacers (IND WINS 4-3)

[HangTime]

OG vs Siakam

As a Raptors fan, this is Going to really interesting to see.

[iLLmatic860]

Honestly I think we win but I am a bit concerned, coming from such a physical series. players playing 40+ mins, to now play a team like the Pacers with a fast pace. good thing we have home court advantage. The team is well conditioned but I can see Pacers giving us problems

[Hoop Hunter]

The Pacers might honestly be the worst team in this entire post season. They caught a huge break in the first round with the Greek Freak out.

Their defense is atrocious. And they don’t seem to have much depth.

Their hype deflated after losing the Mid Season Championship against the Lakers.

So you never really watched any Pacers games and pulled this out of, we know. The last time we played the Lakers we kicked their butts.

The number one bench ALL season, might just show a little depth. 9 deep, even after losing Buddy, Brown vie trades and Mathurin with injury.

The defense has progressively gotten better all season.

[MeloNY]

Ordinarily, I would go Knicks in 5. But the Knicks can never do anything without some kind of adversity. Knicks in 6.

[JXL]

Knicks in 6.

- Pacers' pace is an advantage, their plan is to run and gun and tire you out. Knicks know how to change gears on a dime. They won't be sped up by Indiana.
- Knicks rebounding will be a key of focus for Indiana. If they crash the boards more than NY, it changes the tone of the series.
- The battle of the PGs: Brunson vs. Haliburton. I expect Brunson to average about 30/8 on 52% shooting in the series, and Hali to average 23/12 on 46% shooting. They won't guard each other.
- My X-Factor in the series for both teams:
Knicks: OG Anunoby - His defense on Siakam will be huge because he can bother him and its length vs. length
Pacers: Myles Turner - If he goes off from 3 and the Knicks bigs don't rotate fast enough, it changes the series because more attention will be on his pick and pop (ala Porzingis, but not as efficient)
- Overall, this will be a fun series, but Brunson goes off cause there's no player on Indiana, unlike on Philly, who can stop him.

[vulture]

Pascal vs OG hurts my soul as a raptors fan.
Good luck to both and may they kill each other.

[KnicksGadfly]

I don't think you can count any team out at this point.

The Knicks are basically Brunson and a bunch of tough role players that need to claw to get their wins. I think the Pacers want to run and force the Knicks to run as much as possible, to see if those 7 players (several of whom play 40 minutes) can handle it. The Knicks are going to have to muck up the game and put fear into the Pacers, particularly regarding offensive rebounds.

It's gonna be a different style, definitely. Turner feels more willing to take 3s than Embiid. Siakam and OG are gonna be interesting because of how well they know each other, and because OG doesn't need to chase Maxey anymore. Haliburton is gonna chuck a ton from 3, and we can't give him the same looks we gave former Pacer Buddy Hield. They also got some young role players...it's not gonna be like we're facing Lowry and Batum, who are older, or Tobias Harris. McConnell is gonna be annoying.

[NyKnicks1714]

Knicks in 5 or 7. Hali just isn't himself so leaning towards 5, but I think Indiana would take care of business at home in game 6 if it got there, which is possible.

[jowglenn]

I'm a Pacers fan but I gave my honest opinion - Knicks in 7. I'm being generous here, it could be Knicks in 6 instead. I think the Pacers offense will have a few really hot games but in the end the Knicks are too good and the Pacers don't have the tools to stop them.

I am excited for this series though as it has a ton of great storylines:

Brunson v Haliburton: Two All-Star (All-NBA?) young point guards who have rejuvenated their respective teams. Last season, there was the kerfuffle where Wally Sczerbiak was calling Tyrese a "wannabe fake all-star" but then Haliburton proceeded to make the All-Star game and Brunson didn't. Then this year, Tyrese was getting all the shine and attention early on, but Brunson proceeded to have an overall better season and really has demonstrated himself to be a true All-NBA player while Haliburton faltered badly in the second half of the season. Two different player styles, but a great head to head matchup of two young All-Star point guards.

Siakam v Anunoby: Long-time teammates now on different teams facing off. Both guys have been great acquisitions for their respective teams, and they will be matched up a lot in this game.

Depth v Depth: Both teams have lots of interesting role players and it will be interesting to see which ones rise to the occasion.

Rebounding v Pace: Knicks can outrebound the Pacers, but can the Pacers simply outrun the Knicks?

And of course the potential revival of the 90s rivalry. Hicks vs Knicks!!! Will a lanky light-skinned Pacers star guard manage to pull off some wild heroics in Madison Square Garden yet again? We shall see!

[Woodsanity]

I think we win this series in 6 but the Pacers definitely have a chance to win in 7. Can't let our guards down and get cocky.

Pacers are a great offensive team but sorely lacking defensively.

If the Pacers push the pace and Hali plays well they definitely have a shot.

[Lord_Zedd]

tbh, I wouldn't be surprised to see Hartenstein on Siakam. Daring Siakam to be a jump shooter has always been his weakness, and why opposing teams tend to stick their C on Siakam.

Otherwise Pacers good ball movement is going to make OG fight through so many screens to finally guard Siakam.

[Helsbyte]

Pacers in 6 or Knicks in 7.

I think this much closer than some of you think. Here is my Tale of the Tape.

Haliburton vs Donte, Hart, and Grimes. With Brunson carrying much of the offensive flow I don't expect much of a Head to Head match up with Haliburton on either side of the court. ADVANTAGE IND

Brunson vs Nembhard, Nesmith, and Shepherd. ADVANTAGE NY

Nesmith vs Hart. SLIGHT ADVANTAGE NY

Siakim vs OG PUSH

Turner vs Hartenstein ADVANTAGE IND

Ind Bench vs NY Bench SLIGHT ADVANTAGE IND

Carlisle vs Thibs SLIGHT ADVANTAGE IND

Ind Pace vs NY Pace Man this is tough. I always lean defense first during playoffs but if you haven't seen Indiana play this year their
offense when flowing is beautiful to watch. They share the ball everywhere. SLIGHT ADVANTAGE NY


INDIANA IN 6 OR NY IN 7 is what I am thinking.

[E-Balla]

I think we got it in 5 or 7 mainly because Hali takes over the pace of games, but they're too soft to play with NY and Brunson is just as effective at controlling the pace. As long as the Knicks slow it down and make them rely more on Pascal than Hali we should have it.

[Capn'O]

We have unfinished business in Indiana. Good to see this old rivalry flare up.

I think we'll see some more lopsided outcomes than we did in the Philly series in both directions. At least one game, the Pacers will go off.

[Capn'O]

Pacers won the last playoff matchup. 2013 Semi Finals. 4-2

These are common playoff foes back in the days! '90s, early '00s.
Very nostalgic. They had some great matches as well and memorable moments. Lot of postseason history between these 2 teams. Elite in the East back then along with the Bulls, Magic, etc
Including several ECFs matchup between Pacers/Knicks.
Ewing, Oakley, Starks, Riley, Bird, Larry Brown, Jeff Van Gundy, Sprewell, Reggie Miller, Mark Jackson, Rik Smits, Dale Davis, Mullens, McKey, Jeff Foster, Camby, Dudley, Alan Houston, Ward, Mason, Spike Lee, etc etc!

2000 ECF Pacers won 4-2 (lost NBA Finals to Lakers, 4-2)
1999 ECF Knicks won (upset) 4-2 (lost NBA Finals to Spurs, 4-1, Spurs first NBA championship)
1998 SemiFinals Pacers won 4-1
1995 SemiFinals Pacers won 4-3
1994 ECF Knicks won 4-3 (lost NBA Finals to Rockets 4-3, Rockets first NBA championship)
1993 1st round Knicks won 3-1

Buckle up, should be fun!
Hicks vs Knicks/City Clicks.

Toss up series to me, maybe leaning towards Knicks? IDK. Could be Pacers, too! Maybe 6/7 game series.

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'95 is my worst memory as a sports fan. Ewing played a great game but missed the finger roll at the end to win it. '99 is one of my best memories. Pacers was always a war.

I picked Knicks in 5 but this foe cannot be taken lightly.

[Capn'O]

the knicks will win if they make the pacers play at their pace

the pacers will win if they make the knicks play at their pace.

The team better at dictating that is NY. They actually rebound and play defense.

i wrote that becasue pacers #1 and the knicks are dead last in pace.

so it's two total extremes, halfcourt vs open space

Fun fact - the Knicks were the only team in the league to have a slower pace than the 2004-5 SSOL Phoenix Suns.

[Special_Puppy]

I'd say that the Knicks are 2-1 favorites in this series with the modal outcome being Knicks in 5

[cgf]

Yuck.

Lol the east is trash

Lakers are a play-in team in either conference.

[Nuntius]

I’m interested in the thought process of the two people who said the Pacers would sweep.

Pacers fans?

Doubtful. I don't think that any Pacers fan who has posted in this thread has said anything lower than 6 games. Heck, a number of us are predicting us to lose.

My guess is that those two votes were either trolls, people who want to be contrarians or people who really hate the Knicks.

[cgf]

I’m interested in the thought process of the two people who said the Pacers would sweep.

Pacers fans?

Doubtful. I don't think that any Pacers fan who has posted in this thread has said anything lower than 6 games. Heck, a number of us are predicting us to lose.

My guess is that those two votes were either trolls, people who want to be contrarians or people who really hate the Knicks.

Could be the 2 nets fans that post in every knicks thread, or angry Philly fans still hoping for Brunson to spontaneously combust.