Thanks to an exhilarating six-game series win over the Boston Celtics, the Knicks find themselves back in the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. And the only team standing in their way of a trip to the NBA Finals is a familiar foe.
The Indiana Pacers.
Yes, those same Pacers who have also been the Knicks’ opponent in their previous three trips to the conference finals. Those same Pacers that saw Reggie Miller become persona non grata at Madison Square Garden. And the same team that sent the Knicks home in a seven-game conference semifinals series just a year ago.
But these Pacers are obviously not the exact same team the Knicks have faced in playoff series past, and the Knicks are also a new squad. So when the two teams meet for Game 1 at The Garden on Wednesday night, the Knicks know you can throw past playoff history out the window.
“Half the team didn’t play last year, they were hurt,” Josh Hart said on Monday. “[Julius Randle] and Donte [DiVincenzo] aren’t here anymore. [Isaiah Hartenstein] isn’t here anymore. We’ve got [Karl-Anthony Towns], [Mikal Bridges], OG [Anunoby] was hurt.
“It’s a totally different team, a totally different situation, a totally different round of the playoffs. So we just have to make sure we’re ready. That’s an extremely talented team whose offense is clicking on all cylinders right now. So, it’s nothing about revenge or anything. It’s about the next series.”
The Knicks indeed were very banged up in last year’s seven-game series with the Pacers. Anunoby was not himself, Mitchell Robinson was sidelined, and Brunson fractured his left hand in the third quarter of Game 7.
The disappointment from last season’s ending is not lost on the Knicks, but as Tom Thibodeau explained on Monday, the key to recovering from a tough series like that is to take a good, long look in the mirror in the offseason, and come back better than ever the following season.
“I think you have to study your team. You have to study the strengths and weaknesses of your team,” Thibodeau said. “Each team is different, and I think that’s the challenge that you have every year. Whether it’s draft picks, trades, free agency, whatever it might be, or maybe you get back a player who was injured the previous year, and then the challenge is how do you put it together and you have to get on the same page as quickly as possible.
“Sometimes you fall short, and you have to make sure that you’re making your corrections and moving forward. You always want to be moving forward and you never want to be satisfied with where you are, and you always have to have the belief that you can do something better.”
While there will be plenty of difference for both teams come the start of the series, one thing remains true for the fourth-seeded Pacers: guard Tyrese Haliburton is the star of the show.
A two-time All-Star, Haliburton averaged 18.6 points and 9.2 assists during the regular season, and his playoff numbers have been about the same. The Iowa State product had a huge Game 5 to eliminate the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, scoring 31 points with eight assists and six rebounds, and the challenge of guarding Haliburton will be pivotal for the Knicks.
“Great player. He’s done a lot and quieted a lot of people,” said Brunson. “He’s obviously their engine. They go as he goes and he does a lot for their team, so it’s going to be a tough task. But I think as a team we need to stick together and do what we do and control what we can control. I’m happy, obviously, for his success, but this is a new challenge for us.”
That new challenge begins on Wednesday night, when the Eastern Conference Finals tip off at 8:00 p.m.
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