The Pacers' success, particularly on offense, is the product of a group of players that has bought in and an NBA champion coach who has evolved.

The Knicks (94.88) place third in pace among teams remaining in the postseason, barely surpassing the Minnesota Timberwolves (95.43). The Pacers (99.03) rank second behind the Oklahoma City Thunder (100.46). The Knicks, though, were on their way to solving the issue before worsening it themselves.

Former Gonzaga star Andrew Nembhard shined in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, sealing the Pacers’ win with a clutch layup and lockdown defense on Jalen Brunson.

Carlisle is still tough and still demanding, but he has learned that collaboration is a lot easier to navigate than confrontation.

For whatever reason, Thibodeau benched Towns for six minutes and 35 seconds of the fourth quarter — beginning at the nine-minute mark — while the Knicks fell short of a comeback attempt in Friday’s 114-109 loss at Madison Square Garden.

In 2024, Indiana boasted the second-best offense and 24th-ranked defense ... at the Pacers improving simply because they wanted to seems a bit of an oversimplification, but his head coach backed ...

The Pacers and Knicks will meet in a playoff series for the ninth time and the second straight season. Here's how they match up in several key areas.

The Pacers use an 11-man rotation and the Knicks lean harder on their starting lineup than any other team. The Pacers hope that works in their favor.

The Eastern Conference’s No. 3 seed, the New York Knicks (51-31), will take on the No. 4-seed Indiana Pacers (50-32) in the Eastern Conference finals, the third round of the 2025 NBA playoffs. It’s a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference semifinals, which the Pacers won in seven games.

This is Brunson vs. Haliburton just as much as it’s Knicks vs. Pacers — and it has the makings of a good ole-fashioned basketball rivalry.