Memories of the 1990s playoff battles between the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers have been on the sidelines of the current Eastern Conference semifinal series for the past two weeks. Literally.
At Madison Square Garden, former Knicks John Starks and Patrick Ewing are regulars on the court, and their highlights from those epic seven-game series have been replayed on the video board every game to maximize nostalgia. Former Pacers Dale Davis and Antonio Davis waved to the crowd from their courtside seats in Indianapolis to remind fans of their victories from that era.
Reggie Miller was hired specifically to call TNT’s Game 2, and legendary Knicks fan Spike Lee brought tabloid framed pages of their famous interactions from those days.
All of this is great material for fans and former players of a certain age.
In back-to-back seasons, 1994 and 1995, the Pacers and Knicks met in the playoffs, with both series lasting a full seven games. Each side won one. In 1994, the Knicks prevailed in the conference finals to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time in 21 years.
And in 2000, the Pacers beat New York in six games in the conference finals to make their only Finals appearance.
But the current players? They are more interested in their own story than grainy pre-HD images.
Only six active Knicks and Pacers players (Alec Burks, Josh Hart, James Johnson, Doug McDermott, TJ McConnell and Pascal Siakam) were alive in 1995. None of them remember Miller’s eight points in nine seconds at the end of the game. 1 of that series.
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This year’s Knicks and Pacers are much more focused on the opportunity presented to them now, even if one day they could be sitting courtside watching highlights from the 2024 series that lasted seven games.
“For a lot of us, this is our first playoff experience, let alone the first Game 7,” said Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton, who had never competed in a playoff game before this season. “The Garden is an incredible atmosphere and the crowd will be rowdy. And we just haven’t won there yet. So we have to show that we can do it.”
Sunday’s game (3:30 p.m. ET on Keynote USA) will be just the third Game 7 at MSG since 1974 and the first since 1995, when the Pacers stunned the Knicks 97-95, while future Hall of Famers Ewing and Miller scored 29 each. points, but Ewing missed a potential game-tying layup at the buzzer.
As the Knicks regrouped after a 13-point loss Friday night in Indianapolis, they took solace in the home field advantage they have. The Knicks are 5-1 at home this postseason, while the Pacers are 1-5 on the road. In NBA history, excluding neutral-site games in the 2020 Orlando bubble, home teams are 110-35 (.759) in Games 7.
“It’s definitely something we strive for, having home field advantage as much as possible during the playoffs,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I’m happy that the team has the mentality that we have. But it’s not just because it’s at home. We have to go out and play, and they will be ready and we will be ready.” ready too.”
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Knicks legends love New York’s hot start
John Starks, Larry Johnson and Latrell Sprewell love the Knicks’ hot start in Game 6.
Three Pacers expected to get minutes (Aaron Nesmith, Myles Turner and Siakam) have Game 7 experience. For the Knicks, Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo and OG Anunoby previously played in a Game 7, but none came while with the Knicks .
Anunoby, who has not played since Game 1 due to a strained left hamstring, was upgraded from out to questionable on Saturday. He is expected to test the hamstring on Sunday morning before making a decision.
“I expect both teams to be desperate,” said Brunson, who went 1-1 in Game 7 when he was with the Dallas Mavericks. “You’re not going to win just because you’re at home. You have to work hard and we have to play well.”
Brunson has a habit of ignoring important moments, saying, “I’ll think about it when I retire.” This is another one of them, his first Game 7 as a Knick. He scored two points in 10 minutes in his first Game 7, a loss in 2021, then scored 24 points on 11-of-19 shooting in a Game 7 blowout of the Phoenix Suns a year later.
This postseason, he’s averaging 33.7 points, with a pair of 40-point games in this series, giving the Knicks a chance to close out at home for the first time since 1999. If they do, they’ll advance to the conference finals. . for the first time since the Pacers beat them 24 years ago. So if Brunson can lead New York to victory in his biggest game as a Knick yet, he will automatically go down in the annals.
It was just six months ago that Haliburton played what was then his biggest game as a Pacer, during the season tournament finale. Last summer, he got excited because the Pacers had several games scheduled on national television this season. Coming into the campaign, including during his time with the Sacramento Kings from 2020-2022, Haliburton had played on national television just once.
Despite this season’s experience, Haliburton and the up-and-coming Pacers are still in new territory. Although the winner will be a significant underdog against the Boston Celtics in the next round, there is a palpable understanding about what is at stake.
“I think when you’re a young, up-and-coming team, it’s easy to say, man, we’re never on TV. People never see us play well,” Haliburton said. “You have to earn it. And I think we’re on our way to achieving that… We have to prove that we deserve that spotlight.”
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