The New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers are set to tip off Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday night. In a series that should be extremely entertaining, the two teams are bringing back the old "Hicks vs. Knicks" rivalry.
Most experts believe that the Knicks are going to take the series and advance to the NBA Finals. However, there were many who thought the Cleveland Cavaliers would take care of business against the Pacers in the second round.
Of course, Indiana knocked the No. 1-seeded Cavaliers out of the playoffs in just five games. New York will try to avoid being the next team to fall to the Pacers.
Ahead of Game 1, the Knicks have taken to social media to send out a five-word message. The fans are clearly excited in New York, and the atmosphere is sure to be electrifying.
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"Bringing this energy ALL DAY," the post read, showing a video of fans getting hyped up.
Playing at Madison Square Garden is never an easy task. However, these two teams played last season in the second round of the playoffs.
In what was a hotly contested series, Indiana was able to pull off a road victory in Game 7 to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Pacers fell victim to the Boston Celtics en route to their NBA championship in those conference finals.
This time around, the Knicks are much healthier than they were last year when they played Indiana in the playoffs. New York will look to start the series fast against Indiana and maintain home-court advantage.
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During the regular season this year, the Knicks took a 2-1 series win. The Pacers put up a fight in the second loss to New York, but the advantage was clearly with the Knicks during the regular season.
Karl-Anthony Towns has dominated against Indiana in the three games he played against them this year. He will be a huge key in this series after averaging 30.2 points per game and 12 rebounds versus the Pacers in the regular season.
All roads have led to this point. Game 1 between New York and Indiana is scheduled to tip off at 8 p.m. ET. It will be interesting to see what this series has in store between two teams extremely hungry for a championship.
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This story was originally published May 21, 2025 at 9:59 AM.