Is this one of the most underrated sports rivalry of all time?
The Knicks and Pacers rivalry is one that doesn’t often get brought up in the greatest sports rivalries conversation. And rightfully so. It doesn’t compare to Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, Yankees vs. Red Sox, Dodgers vs. Giants, Duke vs. UNC, Ohio State vs. Michigan, Lakers vs. Celtics, Packers vs. Bears, or many other intense rivalries within the sports world. It might not even be the most talked about rivalry the Knicks have since that honor probably goes to the Nets or Heat. But do not get it twisted. The Knicks and Pacers, despite only meeting in the playoffs once in the last decade, do have a lot of history, and anyone who has been a Knicks fan for longer than a couple of seasons will tell you as much.
Since the two teams clashed for the first time in the playoffs in 1993, there’s been a lot of close battles. Eight series, of which the Pacers have won five, 48 games, of which the Pacers have won 26 to be exact. And despite the players, coaches, and front offices changing throughout the years, this rivalry always feels somewhat similar- a matchup between two teams, and cities, that are so similar, yet so different.
The Pacers, who often get overlooked by the national media, embrace the Midwestern “us vs. the world” mentality. Meanwhile, the Knicks, who are often rooted against by other fanbases, do the same, but with a few dashes of the big city flare mixed in. Indiana wears its deep basketball history, highlighted by the movie, and team, The Hoosiers, proudly, while New York often refers to Madison Square Garden as The Mecca of Basketball. The result is often an intense, emotional, physical, passionate back-and-forth between two franchises with a lot of history. But what exactly has taken place during those series that has gotten us to where we are now?
As mentioned earlier, it all started in 1993, when the eastern conference’s top-seeded Knicks took on a 41-41 Pacers team that earned a playoff spot via a tiebreaker. New York won the first two games at home and looked like they were on their way to completing a sweep of the Pacers. But in game three, John Starks, who was growing visibly frustrated with Reggie Miller’s physical defense, headbutted the Pacers guard, leading him to be ejected in a 116-93 loss. The Knicks did eventually go on to win game four 109-100 and advanced to the next round. Little did anyone know, this was going to be the first of many clashes.
The following year, the two teams met up again. But this time, the stakes were raised as a trip to the finals was on the line. The 57-25 Knicks had locked up the second seed, while the Pacers had improved on their record from the year prior, and had jumped up to the fifth seed with a 47-35 record. Much like they did the season prior, New York won the first two matchups and did so in convincing fashion. In the Knicks’ 11-point game one victory, Patrick Ewing scored 28 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and blocked six shots, while Charles Oakley scored 20 points, and grabbed 13 rebounds of his own. In game two, the Knicks rode the trio of Ewing, Oakley, and Derek Harper, who scored 67 of their 89 points, to victory.
With their backs against the wall though, the Pacers reeled off three straight wins propelled by a 31-point game four, and 39-poing game five from Miller, the latter of which has gone down in NBA history as one of the more memorable choke jobs by a team ever. The Knicks had a commanding 70-58 lead through three quarters, but Miller, who had been quietly up until that point, scored 25 points in the final period to rally the Pacers back. Thankfully for the Knicks and their fans, New York did manage to retake control of the series and ultimately ended up winning the series in seven games.
As if that series didn’t have enough drama though, the very next season, the two teams met up yet again. And somehow, the Pacers, and more specifically, Miller, one-upped himself by pulling off one of the most improbable comebacks in NBA history. With the Knicks up 105-99 in the closing seconds of game one, Miller hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to three with 16 seconds left. Anthony Mason then threw an inbound pass to a falling Greg Anthony, which landed right into the hands of, yup you guessed it, Miller, who recalled the pass as, “the best chest pass from either team”. He quickly proceeded to dribble back beyond the three-point line and knock down a big three to tie the game.
Sam Mitchell, a future NBA coach, inadvertently fouled Starks soon after though. And it looked for a second like the Knicks may escape a disastrous collapse. But the Knicks’ nightmare was far from over. Starks went on to miss both free throws. And when Ewing got a difficult, but more than makeable shot from the paint to take the lead, he left it a bit short. That miss landed in the hands of Miller, who was, of course, fouled by Starks. The sharpshooter went on to hit two free throws and steal the Game One victory from the Knicks’ hands. New York did what they could to claw their way back into the series, tying it at three games apiece after back-to-back wins in Games Five and Six, but fell short to the Pacers in a two-point game seven loss where Ewing, who missed a point black finger roll at the end of regulation, and Miller went back-and-forth, scoring 29-points a piece.
A few years went by before another memorable, franchise-defining play happened between these two teams. But in 1999, it was finally the Knicks’ turn to hand the Pacers a gut-wrenching loss and be on the right side of history. In game three of the ‘99 conference finals, the eight-seed Knicks were trailing the Pacers 91-88. With just seconds left in the game, things looked dire from New York. Until Larry Johnson, better known as LJ, hit one of the biggest shots in NBA history. The Knicks forward hit a three-point shot from the left elbow as the Pacers’ Antonio Davis fouled him. After Madison Square Garden erupted in pandemonium, Johnson calmly hit the free throw to complete one of, if not, the most clutch, and most significant four-point play ever, to cap off a comeback win. The Knicks rode that momentum to beat the Pacers and move on to the finals where they eventually fell to the San Antonio Spurs.
While the Knicks and Pacers met up in the conference finals once again the following year, it lacked some of the excitement and series-changing moments as the Pacers were on the rise, and the Knicks were visibly on the decline. That trend would continue over the next decade or so as the Pacers weaved in and out of playoff contention, while the Knicks went through one of the darkest and loss-filled decades in sports history. The Knicks were perpetually in the lottery thanks in large part to an infatuation with big names, and quick-fix trades, and it often led to paying large salaries for over-the-hill, injury-riddled stars, head-scratching personnel decisions, and most importantly, disastrous results.
The two teams did briefly rekindle their rivalry in 2013 when the Knicks’ one-year blip of success in the 2010s came when the franchise surrounded star Carmelo Anthony with a roster of veterans, shooters, and defenders. While that team looked incredibly good during the regular season, they ran into a physical, team-oriented, defensive-minded Pacers team that matched up incredibly well against the Knicks, who looked a step slow after their first-round matchup against the Celtics.
In the last few years, both teams have gone through complete overhauls. The Pacers found their franchise star in Tyrese Haliburton and paired him up with Pascal Siakam. While the Knicks, with a new front office, and a star franchise point guard by the name of Jalen Brunson, have had their first run of sustained success since the late 90s. That culminated in a seven-game series last year when the Pacers defeated the Knicks to move on to the conference finals.
With there being such a rich history of franchise-altering moments, and big games between these two teams, it’s fair to expect another incredible series this year. And with the stage being the conference finals instead of the second round like last year, it should only amplify the pressure, and hype surrounding this matchup. Indiana is looking to make their first finals appearance since 2000 and solidify their place among the league’s best. While the Knicks, who feel like they didn’t get a fair shot at the Pacers last year due to injuries, are looking to make their first finals appearance since 1999 and do what many thought was impossible. Regardless of how the series pans out, it should be an incredibly fun, but also nerve-wracking one for the players and the fanbases.