New York Knicks against Indiana Pacers – an eternal duel in the NBA playoffs

The New York Knicks averted the impending end in the NBA playoffs with a win in game five of the Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers. The duel of the old rivals in the east electrifies the US audience, the playoff series continues the series of historical encounters between the Knicks and the Pacers.

Ben Stiller, one of the many stars sitting in the front row in the Knicks games in Madison Square Garden, kept seven fingers in the TV cameras. A clear message to the US audience, which was also chant by the ranks: “Knicks in Seven” The euphoric fans in New York called, after their team 11: 94 on Thursday evening (May 29, 2025, local time) in game five of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers.

The Knicks have only shortened the gap in the best-of-Seven series to 2: 3 and initially averted the impending end in the NBA playoffs. Game six will take place in Indianapolis again on Saturday evening, the next “do-or-die” game for the Knicks, who could return to New York in a win for a winning game and win the series in seven games, as Ben Stiller and the other fans prohenzehen.

Knicks hope for comeback – and the momentum

The momentum in the series seems to be overturned, not only the Knicks fans believe that, but also many TV experts who have already written off the team from New York. The Pacers had previously appeared in the series too dominant, they have the deeper bank and are probably the better team from the occupation. And you have the more experienced coach, Rick Carlisle, who led the Dallas Mavericks with Dirk Nowitzki 2011 to the title.

Late, but possibly not too late, the Knicks have apparently found a key, and also the necessary intensity to stop the Pacers’ quick attack game. Above all, they finally managed to curb the circles of Pacers playmaker Tyrese Haliburton. Haliburton had previously superior to the game of the Pacers, intelligently and almost error-free, and inspired to compare to compare with Steph Curry and other great ceremonial masters in NBA history.

Haliburton outstanding – up to game five in Madison Square Garden

The preliminary highlight was Haliburton’s performance in game four when he not only achieved a “triple double”, with 32 points, 15 templates and 12 rebounds. He did not make a single loss of ball, which had previously been done in the playoffs since the start of the statistics recordings 50 years ago, no player with a “triple double”.

In game five, the Pacers playmaker only came to eight points, also because his opponent Jalen Brunson worked better on the defensive. Overall, the Knicks team, with the impending end of the season, was more gripping and attentive: especially in the “Transition Defense”, in the reverse movement according to their own attacks, where the Pacers had previously initiated the New York defense regularly with their attacking game with their attacking game. The Knicks won another chance to keep the playoff series alive and force a possible seventh game, then again in front of their own fans in Madison Square Garden.

Reggie Miller against Spike Lee – long rivalry between Pacers and Knicks

The series electrifies the sports audience in the USA, also because of the great rivalry of the two teams. Growing in numerous playoff duels and immortalized in the famous “Choke” gesture of Reggie Miller, from the Conference Finals in 1994: Pacers superstar Miller had put himself around his neck during an incredible comeback in the garden and indicated a strangle in the direction of Knicks-Edelfan Spike Lee, the famous one Film director, with whom he had previously created.

The “Choke” was also revived by Miller’s successor, Tyrese Haliburton, in game one of this year’s series: The Pacers had once more came back in a game that was already believed to be lost in Madison Square Garden. Haliburton achieved the equalization with the final siren, with a difficult to grasp from the triple line: the ball bounced up from the ring and still fell into the basket.

Knicks since 1973 without NBA title, Pacers never at the top

This almost let the Knicks doubt their fate again. Whenever New York had a hopeful team in the past, the playoffs in the east went against the Pacers, between 1993 and 2000 the two teams met six times in the PostSeason. In 1999 the Knicks won the Conference final against the Pacers, a year later, Indiana returned with the victory in the east final against New York. For both teams, it was the last time they could reach the NBA finals.

In the current NBA era, too, the two old rivals in the east experience a renaissance almost simultaneously. In the previous year it was again the Pacers who ended the title dream of the Knicks, in the Conference semi-final with a victory in the seventh game. The Knicks, one of the oldest and most dazzling franchises in the NBA, have been waiting for the championship title since 1973. The Pacers have never been able to put on the NBA crown. For both rivals in the east, it is about breastfeeding the great longing for the title.

Barkley: “Must-Win” for the Pacers

For NBA legend Charles Barkley, today a commentator at the broadcaster TNT, game six is ​​a “must-win” for the Pacers, given an impending seventh game in a certainly bubbling Madison Square Garden. “When Indiana loses and comes back here, then they are beaten up as much as they are today.”