Consider the Knicks–Pacers rivalry renewed.
Indiana’s 130-109 win in Game 7 at Madison Square Garden completed another instant-classic playoff series fraught with tension, trash talk and tenacity, adding a worthy chapter to the storied — and often hostile — history between the longtime Eastern Conference foes.
This year’s second-round series came with palpable hype considering the Knicks and Pacers had met in the postseason seven times previously, including for six series between 1993 and 2000.
Those prior slugfests provided all-time highlights including Reggie Miller’s late-game heroics, Patrick Ewing’s tip-in dunk and Larry Johnson’s four-point play.
More recently, Roy Hibbert’s emphatic block on a Carmelo Anthony dunk attempt in 2013 helped lead the Pacers to a series-clinching win to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
While the players were different this time around, Knicks vs. Pacers delivered once again.
Donte DiVincenzo nailed a game-winning 3-pointer with 40.1 seconds left in the Knicks’ Game 1 victory at the Garden.
Jalen Brunson overcame a first-quarter foot injury in the Knicks’ Game 2 win, scoring 24 second-half points with Miller in the building for the TNT broadcast. Afterward, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle bemoaned the officiating and declared, “Small market teams deserve an equal shot.”
Game 2 proved costly for the Knicks, however, as standout defender OG Anunoby suffered a hamstring strain and missed the next four games.
The Pacers struck back in Game 3 in Indiana, winning on Andrew Nembhard’s improbable step-back 31-footer with 17.1 seconds remaining.
Indiana evened the series with a 121-89 route in Game 4.
Back at home, the Knicks returned the favor in Game 5, steamrolling the Pacers, 121-91, behind Brunson’s 44 points to up, 3-2. The series reached a new level of chippiness when DiVincenzo and Indiana’s Myles Turner got tangled up on a screen, leading to an on-court spat.
“They were trying to be tough guys,” DiVincenzo said afterward. “That’s not their identity.”
The Pacers again held serve at home in Game 6, during which Knicks ironman Josh Hart suffered an abdominal strain.
It all set up Sunday’s win-or-go-home Game 7, during which the Pacers put on a shooting clinic. They made 26 of their first 32 shots. They finished at 67.1%, setting an NBA record for the best field-goal percentage ever in a playoff game.
Injuries finally caught up to the Knicks, who embodied a next-man-up mentality all season. Hart and Anunoby both suited up, though the latter was visibly hobbled and didn’t even play five minutes. Brunson’s historic postseason came to an unceremonious end when he broke his left shooting hand in the third quarter.
“When you win a Game 7 at Madison Square Garden, you’ve made history,” Carlisle said. “It’s very, very difficult to do. This is the most raucous crowd in the NBA.”
Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers’ two-time All-Star point guard, channeled the sharp-shooting Miller during Game 7, making four of his five 3-point attempts during a 14-point first quarter en route to a team-high 26 points.
He exchanged trash talk with a Knicks fan, similar to how Miller used to jaw with Knicks superfan Spike Lee during those mid-90s matchups.
Afterward, Haliburton arrived at his postgame press conference in a hooded sweatshirt depicting the infamous “choke” gesture Miller flashed to Lee amid a Pacers comeback in Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals.
“We text every day,” Haliburton said of Miller. “He’s been a good mentor for me. I’m just wearing the hoodie. I like to be comfy on the plane.”
Haliburton, 24, averaged a team-high 21.3 points per game during the seven-game series. Miller averaged 23.1 points per game over 35 postseason appearances against the Knicks.
The Pacers have now won five of their eight postseason series against the Knicks. Sunday marked the third Game 7 between the teams, with Indiana winning two of them.
The Knicks’ lone Game 7 win against Indiana came during the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals, when Ewing’s put-back dunk with 26.9 remaining helped clinch a spot in the NBA Finals.
The teams met again in the 1995 conference semifinals, during which Miller famously scored eight points in 8.9 seconds late in Indiana’s Game 1 win. The Pacers won that series in six games.
Johnson’s four-point play with 5.7 seconds left in Game 3 of the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals erased a three-point Knicks deficit and fueled a 92-91 win. The Knicks won that series in six games.
Their rematch in 2000, which the Pacers won in six, remains the last time the Knicks reached the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Knicks and Pacers’ meeting in the 2013 conference semifinals revived the rivalry. Down 3-2 in that series, the second-seeded Knicks had a chance to force a Game 7 at home but lost Game 6 in Indiana, despite leading with under five minutes remaining.
Hibbert’s highlight-reel block on Anthony came with the Knicks up, 92-90, at the 5:03 mark of the fourth quarter and served as a turning point in Indiana’s eventual 106-99 win.
With Sunday’s loss, the Knicks have lost their last three postseason series against the Pacers.
“I’m proud,” Turner said afterward. “I’m glad I was able to share this with my family. My dad’s from New York. He grew up on this series and this rivalry.”
Carlisle and Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau were both assistants on their respective clubs during the three playoff meetings between 1998-2000.
“They’re a good team,” Thibodeau said before Game 7 when asked about the latest entry to the rivalry. “That’s what the playoffs are. You love the competition of the playoffs. It’s the best time of the year.”
Miller’s return to MSG for Game 2 evoked old emotions. He sat down before the game with Lee and signed multiple items for the Oscar-winning filmmaker, including a framed copy of the June 3, 1994 edition of the Daily News with the headline, “Thanks A Lot, Spike.”
“Me and Reggie squashed that stuff 20 years ago, so we’re friends,” Lee told the Daily News that night.
With under a minute remaining in that night’s Knicks win, the Garden crowd chanted, “F–k you, Reggie!” Hart made sure Miller heard it, leaning over from the court and telling the seated Hall of Famer, “I don’t know if you heard, I think they said, ‘F–k you.’”
Miller took a victory lap after Game 7, sharing a video of that interaction with Hart and declaring it a turning point in the series.
“Jalen Brunson you’re a true BALLER, been the best player in these playoffs,” Miller wrote on Instagram, “but you and your boys can all heal up together on some beautiful beaches in Cancun, please enjoy!”
With the Knicks and Pacers both boasting young cores, the latest edition of this rivalry may just be getting started.
