Six conversations in eight years! The Knicks and the Pacers’ 30 years of destiny!

After defeating the top two in the Eastern Conference Celtics and the Cavaliers, the Knicks and the Pacers met in the Eastern Conference Finals. For these two teams, this is not only a reappearance of the Eastern Conference semi-finals last year, but also a story of the revival of the feudal enemy. The first time the two teams met in the playoffs was in the first round of the Eastern Conference in 1993. The Knicks, led by coach Pat Riley, held a tough guy such as Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, John Starks, and achieved the first record in the Eastern Conference that year. The Pacers are coached by Bob Hill, and are under their command, including Rick Schmidtz, Dell Davis, Schlumpf, etc., as well as the leading scorer Reggie Miller, who also advanced to the playoffs as eighth in the division that season.

When the Knicks started the first two home wins in the round series, before the third game, when Miller wanted to shake hands with Starks before the game, he was directly ignored by the latter, so Miller decided to give a response. While scoring constantly on the court, he was also constantly squirting trash talks to Starks. In the third quarter, Starks finally couldn't stand it and started arguing with Miller on the court, and was expelled from the court with his head.

Reggie Miller scored 36 points on the spot and the Pacers finally won the game. The Knicks then won the series and eliminated the Pacers, and the two teams started a feudal relationship for many years.

But the Pacers soon waited for their chance to revenge and met the Knicks again in the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals.

The Knicks traded for defender Derek Hubble, ranking second in the division after the Hawks in the East, while the Pacers had another tough guy, Antonio Davis, joining, achieving the fifth record in the East. Michael Jordan announced his retirement for the first time in the year, which was a critical year for the rise of the Eastern Conference and replaced it.

In the first four games, the two teams defended their home court and tied 2-2. The fifth game was held at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks led 70-58 before the fourth quarter, but Reggie Miller did not give up. He scored 25 points in the fourth quarter. During this period, he had provoked many times with Spike Lee, a loyal Knicks fan on the sidelines, and the Pacers finally reversed and won.

When asked about interaction with Spike Lee during the post-match interview, Miller responded with a smile: "Spike? Who?"

The front page of the New York Daily News the next day was a photo of Spike Lee, and wrote directly sarcastically: "Thank you so much, Spike."

Despite this, in the end, just like the previous year's ending, the Knicks won two consecutive games and eliminated the Pacers.

In 1995, the two teams met again in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, and the enemies met again. The Pacers were born in New York and played for five years in the deal. Reggie Miller even made his best performance in his career, helping the team win 50 wins for the first time in team history.

As the Pacers improve year by year, the Knicks continue to maintain their position as a strong team. Anthony Mason won the sixth man in the year, with a regular season record of 55 wins and 27 losses.

In this round of battle, the two teams achieved classics in the first game. When the Knicks led six points with 18.7 seconds left, Miller had not given up yet, and made two three-pointers and two free throws, scoring eight points in one breath to reverse the game.

"This game is dedicated to you, Indiana!" Reggie Miller responded after the game and said that this game also became the most classic Miller moment in league history.

Despite this, the Knicks did not give in. The Pacers once took a 3-1 lead, but the Knicks won two consecutive games to force the series into the seventh game, and the two teams played in the playoffs for two consecutive years. In the seventh match of the century, Miller and Ewing each scored 29 points, but the latter missed a layup at the last moment, and the Pacers were finally able to revenge and eliminate the Knicks.

The fourth time the two teams met in the playoffs was three years later in 1998. The Pacers had two left-handed players. Chris Mullin and Jaylen Ross had a deep enough rotation after joining, and finally played third in the East; the Knicks had the leading scorer Alan Houston and tough guy Larry Johnson, but the center Ewing only played one quarter of the season and retired due to a wrist fracture. The Knicks only finished seventh in the East.

Ewing returned in the second game of the Eastern Conference semi-finals, but did not return to 100% state. Indiana took a 2-1 lead after the first three games. In the fourth game, Miller showed his power at Madison Square and made a three-pointer in the last 5.1 seconds to help the Pacers drag the game into overtime and finally won the victory smoothly. Then the fifth game was successfully closed and eliminated the Knicks 4-1.

Time advanced to 1999. When the season was suspended due to labor-management disputes, each team only played 50 regular season games. With Jordan's second announcement of retirement, the Eastern Conference teams were ready to fight again. The powerful Pacers achieved 33 wins and 17 losses, becoming the second in the division. However, the Knicks, who got Spreeville and Marcus Camby, were not optimistic and ended up only 27 wins and 23 losses, squeezing into the playoffs as eighth in the division, but unexpectedly eliminated the Miami Heat in the first round and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals.

stood in front of another feud team: the Indiana Pacers.

The two teams tied in the first two games of the series, but Ewing was reimbursed for the season due to an Achilles tendon injury. When the third game of the series entered the final critical moment and the Pacers led 91-88, Larry Johnson not only made a three-pointer but also received extra penalty, scoring four points in one fell swoop, helping the Knicks win, becoming a critical moment in this series. Although the Pacers won the fourth game, the powerful Knicks won the next two games and finally eliminated the Pacers and entered the finals..

By the way, the Knicks signed New York-born defender Rick Brunson. Although they did not get many opportunities to play, more than 20 years later, his son Jaylen Brunson became the Knicks' ace core.

In 2000, the two teams met in the playoffs for the sixth time in eight years. The Pacers, who were still Miller, won 56 and lost 26, and on the other hand, although Knicks leader Ewing was 37 years old, the team relied on the double guns of Houston and Spreville to shoot, scoring 50 and 32 losses to third in the East.

Meet in the playoffs, and the Pacers took a 3-2 lead in the first five games. When he returned to Madison Garden in the sixth game, Miller once again showed his skills in New York's nightmare. He scored 17 points in the fourth quarter and scored 34 points in the game, helping the Pacers eliminate the Knicks and enter the finals. This is also the first time that the Pacers have reached the finals in their history.

By the way, after the season, Detroit Pistons star Isaiah Thomas replaced Larry Bird as the Pacers' head coach, but he was replaced by Carlisle in just three seasons. Thomas then became the president of Knicks basketball operations and served as the head coach of the Knicks from 2006-08. After the millennium, the two teams have not met in the playoffs for quite some time. In the next 12 years, the Knicks made it to the playoffs four times, but never crossed the first round. On the other hand, although the Pacers made it to the playoffs eight times, they were always far from the championship after Miller's retirement and the Auburn Mountain incident.

When the Pacers and the Knicks faced each other in the playoffs again, it was already the 2013 Eastern Conference semi-finals, and the lineup was very different from before. The Pacers, led by George, include high-quality players such as David West, George Hill, and Stephenson, and achieved the first record in the Central Division with 49 wins and 32 losses; while the Knicks, led by Anthony, have good scoring players such as JR Smith and Stoudemier, and are also the first record in the Atlantic Division.

And this time, the Pacers stole a victory at the Knicks at home, and then none of them had ever won a row of victories. The Pacers won the first, third and fifth games, while the Knicks won the second and fourth games. In the critical sixth game, the Pacers opened the score with a wave of offensive in the fourth quarter. Hibert gave Anthony a block at the critical moment, and finally the Pacers eliminated the Knicks to advance.

Coming to 2024, more than ten years have passed since the last time the two teams met in the playoffs, and the lineups of the two teams have changed again. The Knicks will be Randle and several Villanova University-graduated alumni, and eventually finished second in the East with a record of 50-32, while the Pacers are led by Halliburton, which includes Turner, Nesmith and Siakam, who was awarded the mid-season trade.

In this round of playoff matches, players on both sides were absent, the Knicks were missing star player Randle, and the Pacers were young player Matherine. The two sides fought until the seventh game. The Pacers played a historical battle at Madison Square, scoring 70 points in the first half, breaking the league playoff record with a shooting percentage of 67.1%, defeating the Knicks in one fell swoop.

"In the first quarter, it seemed that there was a little Reggie Miller's shadow appeared."

This is the evaluation given by Pacers head coach Carlisle for Halliburton, who scored 14 points in the first quarter. In 2025, the Knicks and Pacers, who won third and fourth in the division respectively, met for the second consecutive year in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Knicks got inside star Towns in the trade, while the Pacers lineup remained basically unchanged and they attacked almost with a healthy lineup of all members.

Brunson of the Knicks is only 28 years old, and Halliburton of the Pacers is 24 years old. Both are preparing to shine and heat. Will this be the beginning of another hostile confrontation between New York and Indiana? At present, no matter how this round of series will eventually go, another fierce battle will surely begin.