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

[cgf]

People don’t realize
Indy played the Bucks without Dame
They then faced an injured Cavs team with Garland out and returning late, Mobley out for a game, Hunter out for two games. And Mitchell out for a second half of a game. These add up

They will be facing a healthy, rested Knicks squad. They won’t know what hit ‘em.

Do you really think people aren’t aware of the one talking point that people who know nothing else about the pacers, bring up?

What people actually don’t realize is that the pacers were gunna wreck the bucks & give the Cavs a battle either way, because they are just a really good team with an exhausting style to play against, a great coach, and no quit.

We deserve to be favorites, but this is likely to be our hardest series yet and one that could easily go either way.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

What makes their D so strong isn’t that they rely on individuals like Mitch / OG / Mikal to shut guys down or make insane plays. It’s the constant ball pressure, the crisp rotations, and energy.

Just like on offense, their d is more than the sum of it’s parts because their depth lets them go balls to the wall for 48 minutes and Carlisle is such a good coach. So their good defenders impact is amplified and their poor defenders impact is minimized.

Sure Obi & Bryant are weak defensively, but McConnell is chippy & going to harass Jalen / Deuce full court, Mathurin is inconsistent but has the tools to defend well when he’s focused, while Walker & Sheppard are just straight up good defensively and I’d be happy to have them on our bench.

We’re gunna need to dominate the boards just to control the pace, even if we are super careful about not turning the ball over.

What makes their D so overrated is that they are playing hurt teams. Lets see how it squares out versus a healthy Knicks team.

Knicks were 9th offensively, so on the season they were a tick better than the Bucks.

They’ll need to control rebounds and defend the Pacers on the perimeter to win.

We were 5th offensively with a 117.3 ORTG, the Bucks were 10th with a 115.1 with a healthy Lillard.


Controlling the boards and defending the perimeter are two things the Knicks are good at, the things we struggle with aren't necessarily the things the Pacers are good at. I'll say it one more time, we just played a team with a higher ORTG than them, that takes a higher volume of threes than them, that had offensive players that could beat our guys 1 v 1 and get us to help. If we do the things that worked against the Celtics, which is switching and staying home, we'll win, because they do not have the same level of shot creators as the Celtics.

[Castle Black]

Hali is all class for this.

Read on Twitter

[Castle Black]

Sorry Knicks fans, I want to like your team, but a huge chunk of your fanbase makes it hard to root for y'all.

Read on Twitter

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

Hali is all class for this.

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[KingFox]

Rooting for Hali and the Knicks at the same time so it’s a win win. I pray everyone stays healthy though - playing the pacers, it seems you’re guaranteed to lose a star or two the last 2 seasons

[The KnicksFix]

People don’t realize
Indy played the Bucks without Dame
They then faced an injured Cavs team with Garland out and returning late, Mobley out for a game, Hunter out for two games. And Mitchell out for a second half of a game. These add up

They will be facing a healthy, rested Knicks squad. They won’t know what hit ‘em.

Do you really think people aren’t aware of the one talking point that people who know nothing else about the pacers, bring up?

What people actually don’t realize is that the pacers were gunna wreck the bucks & give the Cavs a battle either way, because they are just a really good team with an exhausting style to play against, a great coach, and no quit.

We deserve to be favorites, but this is likely to be our hardest series yet and one that could easily go either way.

Do you really think Garland isn’t that big of a loss to that Cavs team? He created and set up their offense all season. These injuries matter. Damian Lillard on that team still stretches that series to 6. A healthy Garland Mobley and Hunter definitely stretches that series to six, more likely seven

[Capn'O]

Sorry Indy fans but Rik Smits isn't walking through that door. The Davis dudes aren't walking through that door. Derrick McKey isn't walking through that door.

Knicks in 6

I feel like you're missing someone.

That person being Austin Croshere, of course.

[Castle Black]

Sorry Indy fans but Rik Smits isn't walking through that door. The Davis dudes aren't walking through that door. Derrick McKey isn't walking through that door.

Knicks in 6

I feel like you're missing someone.

That person being Austin Croshere, of course.

Now there's a name you don't hear very often anymore. I actually liked Austin Croshere during his stint with Indy. He was a serviceable role player during their Finals run in 2000. I know Larry Bird really liked him, which is why he gave him so many minutes despite being pretty one-dimensional offensively. Ironically enough, the thing I remember most about Croshere is him trying control Ron Artest during the Malice at the Palace.

[xBulletproof]

Here is some really good Xs and Os talk. I'm only a small bit into it, but NY fans may know the guys talking about the Knicks side. Caitlin Cooper covers the Pacers, but she is very well known among the players and coaches for her analysis. Haliburton brings her up and I think wore her merch during a press conference. She's A+.

Watch on YouTube

[omerome]

Sorry Knicks fans, I want to like your team, but a huge chunk of your fanbase makes it hard to root for y'all.

Read on Twitter

Those fans are actual trash for that.

Yes, wet know that a fan is short for fanatic, but they doesn't give you the permission to be stupid, crappy people. Nothing wrong with harmless trash talk for the opposing fan, but it have stopped there.

[Capn'O]

It sucks that injuries have played such a prominent role in playoff series of late. A lot of great stars went down this year alone. I would have loved to have seen how Wolves/Ws shook out at full strength whereas it turned into a bit of a cakewalk without Curry. Ultimately, you play who's in front of you. If it's your team, maybe you feel like something different would've happened at full strength but that wasn't how the chips fell.

Knicks went all out to grab the 2 seed all year last year and then Embiid did what he did. We paced ourselves much better this season for a playoff run. I'm glad we're seeing these two teams go at it at full strength, at least to start the series. As I said in the C's thread, I was actually relieved after G7 last season that our season ended without suffering something that would be tough to come back from long term. That we didn't have a Tatum injury.

Is it Wednesday yet?

[Gregoire]

Pacers in 6

[Archx]

Congrats Knicks fans you have a good one and another majestic move by the Mavs GM. Helping out yet another organization for no reason at all.

Read on Twitter

[benhillboy]

My crystal ball says Haliburton is gonna hit a game-winning three in the Garden, jump on to the scores table, and yell “this my mother loving house” in James Dolan’s direction.

Hart and Mathurin are gonna hem each other up. Mathurin’s gonna slam Hart, and Hart, too smart to throw a punch, will still need half the Knicks bench to pry him away from Mathurin.

[cgf]

People don’t realize
Indy played the Bucks without Dame
They then faced an injured Cavs team with Garland out and returning late, Mobley out for a game, Hunter out for two games. And Mitchell out for a second half of a game. These add up

They will be facing a healthy, rested Knicks squad. They won’t know what hit ‘em.

Do you really think people aren’t aware of the one talking point that people who know nothing else about the pacers, bring up?

What people actually don’t realize is that the pacers were gunna wreck the bucks & give the Cavs a battle either way, because they are just a really good team with an exhausting style to play against, a great coach, and no quit.

We deserve to be favorites, but this is likely to be our hardest series yet and one that could easily go either way.

Do you really think Garland isn’t that big of a loss to that Cavs team? He created and set up their offense all season. These injuries matter. Damian Lillard on that team still stretches that series to 6. A healthy Garland Mobley and Hunter definitely stretches that series to six, more likely seven

When did I say that? The Bucks were going to be struggling to avoid being swept whether Dame was 100% or not.

And I picked that Cavs series to go 6 or 7 games if both had been at 100%. Injuries matter, but they don't change how good the Pacers have been playing for a long time now. Same way Tatum's achilles, KP being KP, Brown's knee, and Jrue/Al being 50, doesn't negate how well we played against the Celtics.

That team had been really good for months before the playoffs even started, and they're a tricksy playoff matchup for a lot of teams that may look better on paper.

[cgf]

It sucks that injuries have played such a prominent role in playoff series of late. A lot of great stars went down this year alone. I would have loved to have seen how Wolves/Ws shook out at full strength whereas it turned into a bit of a cakewalk without Curry. Ultimately, you play who's in front of you. If it's your team, maybe you feel like something different would've happened at full strength but that wasn't how the chips fell.

Knicks went all out to grab the 2 seed all year last year and then Embiid did what he did. We paced ourselves much better this season for a playoff run. I'm glad we're seeing these two teams go at it at full strength, at least to start the series. As I said in the C's thread, I was actually relieved after G7 last season that our season ended without suffering something that would be tough to come back from long term. That we didn't have a Tatum injury.

Is it Wednesday yet?

The Warriors were too small for Karl & OG while Brunson was out, they were never gunna be able to deal with Rudy, Juju, McD, and Naz.

[cgf]

Sorry Knicks fans, I want to like your team, but a huge chunk of your fanbase makes it hard to root for y'all.

Read on Twitter

Those fans are actual trash for that.

Yes, wet know that a fan is short for fanatic, but they doesn't give you the permission to be stupid, crappy people. Nothing wrong with harmless trash talk for the opposing fan, but it have stopped there.

Yeah, scum is scum even if they were our colors. Hopefully other knicks fans in NYC are turning the s***heads in.

[cgf]

Here is some really good Xs and Os talk. I'm only a small bit into it, but NY fans may know the guys talking about the Knicks side. Caitlin Cooper covers the Pacers, but she is very well known among the players and coaches for her analysis. Haliburton brings her up and I think wore her merch during a press conference. She's A+.

Watch on YouTube

Looking forward to hearing Cooper's thoughts on this series way more than I was any of the Boston media folks who still think they just got unlucky, she's a good one

[Nuntius]

What makes their D so overrated is that they are playing hurt teams. Lets see how it squares out versus a healthy Knicks team.

Knicks were 9th offensively, so on the season they were a tick better than the Bucks.

They’ll need to control rebounds and defend the Pacers on the perimeter to win.

We were 5th offensively with a 117.3 ORTG, the Bucks were 10th with a 115.1 with a healthy Lillard.


Controlling the boards and defending the perimeter are two things the Knicks are good at, the things we struggle with aren't necessarily the things the Pacers are good at.

I have to ask. Which things are those? Which offensive skill are the Pacers not good at?