2025 EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: #3 New York Knicks vs #4 Indiana Pacers (IND leads 1-0)

[cgf]

Every Knicks, Pacers and Timberwolves fan should be rooting hard for Denver in Game 7. If OKC wins they are the prohibitive favorites but if they lose this is truly anyone's title. I'm biased but NY is the slight favorite in a non-OKC playoffs due to HCA.

I’m sorry, but I can’t take the Pacers seriously when they’ve the weakest road to the conference finals…maybe after Minny. Maybe they’ll prove me wrong this series. But I’ll be the arrogant one this time around. Don’t see how they beat the Knicks.

I'm leaning Knicks in 6 but you're short-changing Indiana. In the RS, post All Star break they had a 5.5 MOV, low end for a title contender. The Bucks are a flawed one man team but that one man is an ATG. They completely clobbered Milwaukee. And while Cleveland was wrecked by injuries they still took them out in 5.

I think NY takes this but this is no cakewalk joke squad in the CF. They could beat NY.

OKC is no better than Cleveland and Boston were. Denver would be preferred but any of us three can beat OKC.

Indy can match their pace & depth with a better coach & closer…plus Turner owned iHart…while the Knicks & Wolves just have the size & closer to be a problem for the Thunder.

[LFGK]

It took the pacers 7 games to beat an injured Knicks squad last year. Now the Knicks are healthy while the pacers are the same team. Knicks in 6

The Pacers aren't the same team, though. Here are the three key differences:

1) The Pacers are a much better defensive team this year. Last year, we were a bad defensive team. Our DRTG ranked 24th, making us almost a bottom 5 defensive team. This year, we have been above average throughout the season and for the largest portion of the season, we have been outright top 10.

2) We have our full team this series. A point that often gets overlooked due to how injured the Knicks and the Bucks were last year (and it makes sense that this was overlooked, I'm not trying to say that our injury issues were as important as their injury issues) is that we weren't fully healthy either. Bennedict Mathurin didn't play a single minute in last year's playoffs and he's a pretty important player for us (started 49 games this year, played 29.8 MPG and averaged 16.1 PPG).

3) Pascal Siakam has much better chemistry with the team this year than last year. Siakam came over in a mid-season trade last year and didn't have a full training camp with the team prior to last year's playoffs. But this year, the team knows each other much better and, as a result, our chemistry is much better. Siakam looked like an awkward fit with the team at times last year. This is no longer the case.

The Knicks are definitely a much improved and healthier team this year so there's no issue with picking them. I do expect most people to pick the Knicks after all. But the Pacers are also a much improved and healthier team this year.

I mean your first point fine, regular season they were better but they are bottom 4 in points given up per game, I don't think the team is great defensively, may be the worst team D left and Denver is still in it.


Second point is centered around injury to Mathurin? Cmon man lol Knicks didn't have their starting 3/4/5 and hart was injured. I'm not entertaining Mathurin with all those injuries along with Giannis and Dame, Garland, Mobley and Hunter.

Third point, fine but at the same token Mitch and KAT are just playing gsme25-30 together and what they do out there together these playoffs is pretty absurd.


Again no disrespect to the pacers at all(screw haliburton thiugh) I don't see this being a long series at all. Bad matchup with both teams at 100%

[cgf]

I think the Knicks logging so many big minutes on their starters could bite them in the ass against a deep Pacers team that could be a long series

Bridges, Hart, and OG are all in the top 10 most minutes played on the regular season and then a lot of minutes in two longer series than the Pacers

Thibs did cut a lot of practices this year to compensate for those minutes, and they weren’t going balls to the wall the way they have been in the playoffs.

But I do wonder if Indy will force us to use Payne/Shamet or Achiuwa, just to keep our top 7 from gassing from keeping up with that pace.

[cgf]

It took the pacers 7 games to beat an injured Knicks squad last year. Now the Knicks are healthy while the pacers are the same team. Knicks in 6

The Pacers aren't the same team, though. Here are the three key differences:

1) The Pacers are a much better defensive team this year. Last year, we were a bad defensive team. Our DRTG ranked 24th, making us almost a bottom 5 defensive team. This year, we have been above average throughout the season and for the largest portion of the season, we have been outright top 10.

2) We have our full team this series. A point that often gets overlooked due to how injured the Knicks and the Bucks were last year (and it makes sense that this was overlooked, I'm not trying to say that our injury issues were as important as their injury issues) is that we weren't fully healthy either. Bennedict Mathurin didn't play a single minute in last year's playoffs and he's a pretty important player for us (started 49 games this year, played 29.8 MPG and averaged 16.1 PPG).

3) Pascal Siakam has much better chemistry with the team this year than last year. Siakam came over in a mid-season trade last year and didn't have a full training camp with the team prior to last year's playoffs. But this year, the team knows each other much better and, as a result, our chemistry is much better. Siakam looked like an awkward fit with the team at times last year. This is no longer the case.

The Knicks are definitely a much improved and healthier team this year so there's no issue with picking them. I do expect most people to pick the Knicks after all. But the Pacers are also a much improved and healthier team this year.

I mean your first point fine, regular season they were better but they are bottom 4 in points given up per game, I don't think the team is great defensively, may be the worst team D left and Denver is still in it.


Second point is centered around injury to Mathurin? Cmon man lol Knicks didn't have their starting 3/4/5 and hart was injured. I'm not entertaining Mathurin with all those injuries along with Giannis and Dame, Garland, Mobley and Hunter.

Third point, fine but at the same token Mitch and KAT are just playing gsme25-30 together and what they do out there together these playoffs is pretty absurd.


Again no disrespect to the pacers at all(screw haliburton thiugh) I don't see this being a long series at all. Bad matchup with both teams at 100%

You need to account for pace, their defense is miles better than Denver’s…and this isn’t the same Haliburton as last year.

[cgf]

Knicks should win it

But


If they don’t


It will go down in history as an epic collapse

Pacers playing with house money and their coach Carlisle is reminding them constantly that they are the underdogs

Why would losing to a team that won 1 fewer games be a collapse? Especially if they went on to win a title. This could be our year, but there are 3 other really strong teams left + Jokic.

[cgf]

the issue with the pacers is defense. their defense is straight up weak.

Is it, though? Throughout this year, the Pacers and the Knicks had the exact same DRTG at 113.3. That put both teams tied at 13th.

And if you want to delve even further and look where our DRTG was after Nesmith and Nembhard returned from injury (circa mid-December), you'd see that for the 3/4ths of the season our defense actually ranked in the top 10.

This take was accurate for last year's team but it's no longer accurate.

Knicks have the #1 remaining DRTG in the playoffs and are #2 overall(111.0). Pacers are #7 overall(112.7), #3 remaining behind Knicks and Nuggets

Knicks give up 105.9 ppg, Pacers give up 112.2 ppg

This is very tricky because sample sizes are a very real thing…but our defense is also on an entirely different level than what it was in the regular season just from having Mitch at 100%, OG getting unleashed, Mikal getting physical, playoff refs, and Thibs scheming for each game.

But whether we have the advantage on d or not, the pacers have a very good defense too.

[Phish Tank]

I think the Knicks logging so many big minutes on their starters could bite them in the ass against a deep Pacers team that could be a long series

Bridges, Hart, and OG are all in the top 10 most minutes played on the regular season and then a lot of minutes in two longer series than the Pacers

Thibs did cut a lot of practices this year to compensate for those minutes, and they weren’t going balls to the wall the way they have been in the playoffs.

But I do wonder if Indy will force us to use Payne/Shamet or Achiuwa, just to keep our top 7 from gassing from keeping up with that pace.

nah - if anything Thibs will double down. Depth is only as good as how useful those players are. The Knicks or Pacers will do whatever it takes to exploit the weaker ends of the bench, whether it's Payne/Shamet/precious or even Jarace/Thomas Bryant/etc. on Indy.

You want to minimize those weak points as best as you can.

[Mamba81p]

Wtf is wrong with New York fans lately? Mon attacking a pacers fan with trash bags? A couple of years ago rangers fan sucker punching a Tampa fan. I had a better opinion of New York fans

[DaGawd]

I think the Knicks logging so many big minutes on their starters could bite them in the ass against a deep Pacers team that could be a long series

Bridges, Hart, and OG are all in the top 10 most minutes played on the regular season and then a lot of minutes in two longer series than the Pacers

I’d argue all those minutes in the regular season work to their advantage. The team is conditioned to playing big minutes and can make a team like the Pacers, who will play a full 5 man bench unit pay for doing so.

yeah starting to think thibs might be on to something with the heavy minutes. there was whispers about the cavs being tired during their series against the pacers despite being the more minute conscious teams in the regular season this year.

[DaGawd]

Wtf is wrong with New York fans lately? Mon attacking a pacers fan with trash bags? A couple of years ago rangers fan sucker punching a Tampa fan. I had a better opinion of New York fans

in large fan bases the ass holes tend to be noticed more

[bronxknicksfan1]

Wtf is wrong with New York fans lately? Mon attacking a pacers fan with trash bags? A couple of years ago rangers fan sucker punching a Tampa fan. I had a better opinion of New York fans

Not defending what they’re doing, but walking around with a Pacers jersey on 7th Ave after the Knicks clinched their first ECF appearance in 25 years? Need more awareness than that.

[bisme37]

...

Hey I just noticed you sig. Glad you enjoyed that haha.

[Mamba81p]

Wtf is wrong with New York fans lately? Mon attacking a pacers fan with trash bags? A couple of years ago rangers fan sucker punching a Tampa fan. I had a better opinion of New York fans

Not defending what they’re doing, but walking around with a Pacers jersey on 7th Ave after the Knicks clinched their first ECF appearance in 25 years? Need more awareness than that.

Not defending but defending. Got it.
People wear opposing jerseys all the time as they should. This is like blaming the victim of a rape for wearing a short skirt.

[Iwasawitness]

I’m very curious how Indiana is going to deal with the length of NY. Bridges and OG were a serious problem for Boston and I imagine the Knicks will just put OG on Hali. But on the other side of things, the Pacers physicality and pace were a problem for Cleveland and took them out of multiple games. I can’t help but wonder if New Yorks lack of depth will finally catch up to them here.

[PlatinumState]

Barring injuries, knicks in 7

[dWadeOwnzYou]

Home court WILL be factor this series. The Knicks in 7 .

[bronxknicksfan1]

Wtf is wrong with New York fans lately? Mon attacking a pacers fan with trash bags? A couple of years ago rangers fan sucker punching a Tampa fan. I had a better opinion of New York fans

Not defending what they’re doing, but walking around with a Pacers jersey on 7th Ave after the Knicks clinched their first ECF appearance in 25 years? Need more awareness than that.

Not defending but defending. Got it.
People wear opposing jerseys all the time as they should. This is like blaming the victim of a rape for wearing a short skirt.

And then you gotta take it there…

Everyone in NYC knew what 7th Ave was going to look like if the Knicks won. Why go in the jersey of one of the most hated rivals for that team?

[NiceLikeChrist]

I’m very curious how Indiana is going to deal with the length of NY. Bridges and OG were a serious problem for Boston and I imagine the Knicks will just put OG on Hali. But on the other side of things, the Pacers physicality and pace were a problem for Cleveland and took them out of multiple games. I can’t help but wonder if New Yorks lack of depth will finally catch up to them here.

OG will be on siakim. Mikal will be on Hali. The opposing team will have more depth than us in every series we play unless we face Denver in the finals. Having the better 1-5 has always been more important than having the best 6-9 in the playoffs.

The Cavs are a weak team and we already knew that physicality bothers them because we showed the world when we punked them in 2023.

Knicks are ready for a physical series. That’s not an issue. We played 6 games against the pistons already.

Boston is a better team than Indiana and we handled them. Boston is a better team than Cleveland and far better than Milwaukee. Pacers haven’t even had a test until now.

[Chuck Everett]

I’m very curious how Indiana is going to deal with the length of NY. Bridges and OG were a serious problem for Boston and I imagine the Knicks will just put OG on Hali. But on the other side of things, the Pacers physicality and pace were a problem for Cleveland and took them out of multiple games. I can’t help but wonder if New Yorks lack of depth will finally catch up to them here.

I think they are going to put OG on Siakam. Guarding Haliburton isn't making the best use of his talents because Hali can affect a game without scoring. He also runs all over the court. Cade Cunningham was a different type of matchup because he's kind of deliberate in how he plays. Hali is flying up the floor and around the court, hunting assists.

[bronxknicksfan1]

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