The Knicks Historic Rivalry against the Indiana Pacers!
(C10) Plus, all the other Knicks heartbreak over the last 32 years!!!
From my last post, prior to this one
V. All things Knicks!!!
Once I was half-way through this section, I realized this “all things Knicks” section deserved its own article. So, that’s going to drop later this week.
TO BE CONTINUED….
Before the start of the Eastern Conference Finals, I was very excited to write a piece on the history of the Knicks from 1992-2025. In it there was a lot of talk about the Knicks battling Michael Jordan and the Bulls. There was also the Knicks' heated rivalry with the Miami Heat and Pat Riley turn-coat Executive/Coach who abandoned the Knicks on their quest for a title in the 1990s. There was also going to be quite a bit of talk of Knicks futility over the years, and the false promise of a Carmelo Anthony lead Knicks team.
Of course, Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals just happened, and fate somehow intervened, where the memorable battles against the Bulls and the Heat, are now taking a backseat to an even bigger nemesis for the Knicks, and that is the Indiana Pacers. And all I can say is, Game 1 between them in this series was a truly brutal ending for us Knicks fans.
The significance of Haliburton putting his stamp on the Garden floor on Wednesday evening, is not lost on anyone who has followed the NBA and the Knicks closely over the last number of decades. In fact, since the 1990s, the Knicks and Pacers have faced off against one another eight times prior to this match-up!
Keep in mind that since the NY Knicks were formed as a team in 1946, they have won two NBA Championships, in 1970 and 1973. After 1973, the team was in the doldrums until Patrick Ewing was drafted #1 by them in 1985. Once Ewing left the Knicks in 2000, most of this century has been the dark ages for the Knicks. However, the signing of Jalen Brunson in the 2022 off-season was a real turning point in this franchise.
New York Knicks vs. Indiana Pacers Head-to-Head in the NBA Playoffs - All-Time Game Log
The Knicks have won three series, and the Pacers have won five of them, including the last 3
The 1st Knicks v. Pacers playoff series
1993 playoffs Round 1 “Knicks won 3 games to 1”
The Knicks v. Pacers rivalry goes as far back as 1993, when the Knicks were the 60 win 1-seed against the upstart Pacers as the 8 seed. It was a famous series as a harbinger of things to come later on that decade, as the most famous incident of this matchup, wasn’t even a basketball play, but rather an example of Reggie Miller being Reggie Miller, setting off John Starks of the Knicks, who lost his cool and proceeded to head-butt Reggie Miller.
The 1993 season was a significant year in Knicks history as Pat Riley was in his second year as Coach of the team, and in his first year as the head coach in 1991-1992 he had the Knicks push the Bulls to the brink of elimination in a grueling 7 game eastern conference semifinals series.
With a season under their belts with Riley at the helm the Knicks won 60 games and the best record in the eastern conference, everyone really believed the Knicks would dethrone Michael Jordan and the Bulls. As many people know, it was never to be.
The 2nd Knicks v. Pacers playoff series
1994 playoffs Eastern Conference Finals “Knicks won 4 games to 3”
The 1994 Knicks Team wasn’t as talented as the 1993 Knicks Team, but it is the team that came closest to winning a championship. In fact, this team in particular might go down in NBA history as one of the closest margins to lose a Championship, ever! (This would be an interesting deep dive for a later date). Of course, the Knicks had to get through Indiana in 7 grueling, yet marvelous games.
For those of us too young to remember that series, the Knicks were actually down 3-2, and they needed to win a game on the road to force a Game 7. Game 5 was kind of a coming out party for Reggie Miller, where he developed a reputation from this game as a true “Giant Slayer”, scoring 25 points in the 4th quarter, to take commanding control over that game and series.
Oh! That’s where Haliburton got the choke sign from…
If the Knicks advance to the Finals this year, that “Haliburton Choke Sign” game is going to be remembered in the same vein as the “Reggie Miller 25-point 4th quarter outburst game”, great for Halliburton's legacy, but largely irrelevant to the final outcome of this series.
The 3rd Knicks v. Pacers playoff series
1995 playoffs Eastern Conference Semifinals “Pacers won 4 games to 3”
The 1995 Knicks team was in some ways an example of fool’s gold. They were eliminated by the Pacers in the Semi Finals in 7 Games, some of which were in grueling fashion.
Not sure which loss was worse, the elimination finger roll miss, or the choke job in game 1.
Actually, I do! The Game 1 loss was way worse! It was inexcusable. I would actually argue it was more inexcusable than the Knicks loss in Game 1 of this ECF series that happened this past Wednesday night (5/21/25).
If the Knicks won that series in 1995, could we say they realistically won that series 5 games to 2?? For what it’s worth, I still find that Game 1 loss to be the third most brutal Knicks loss since I followed the NBA during the 1991-92 season.
*TOP 3 MOST BRUTAL KNICKS LOSSES OVER THE LAST 32 YEARS (maybe more)
Rockets Game 7 Finals victory in 1994, most famous for John Starks going 3-18
Bulls Game 5 ECF victory in 1993, most famous for Charles Smith missing multiple layups from point blank range at the end of that game, swinging the series firmly in Chicago’s favor
The Reggie Miller 8 points in under 9 seconds, playoff game
*For a more extensive list of the brutal losses, you can go to the bottom of this page or just wait until you get up to that section.
Of course, the Reggie Miller 4th quarter explosion in the 1994 ECF bears merit, as it was a grueling loss at the time. But the Knicks ultimately did win that series.
And the fact that I can’t even rank the Pacers beating the Knicks in a pivotal playoff game as #1 or #2 as one of my worst losses, list tells you something! It also tells you that the bellyaching from Knicks fans now is over-blown and complete recency bias!
Those three years in a row that the Knicks faced off against the Pacers in the playoffs from 1993-1995 were so memorable, that ESPN made a ‘30 for 30 documentary’ featuring them.
For the 1995-1996 season, Pat Riley left town, and the Knicks hired Don Nelson to be the team’s new head coach. He lasted all of 59 games. He quickly stepped down and was replaced by Pat Riley disciple, Jeff Van Gundy. It was a welcome return to hard-nosed basketball. While Van Gundy did not bring the same level of refinement or glamour to the sidelines of the Knicks bench, he brought the same level of toughness. Yet in 1996, nobody was beating that 72-win Chicago Bulls team, on Michael Jordan’s redemption tour.
IV. The Most Memorable NBA Championship Teams
This is the much anticipated PART IV of a Five part series on the most memorable NBA Champions from 1991-2023. For anyone that read Part I and has done the math, these TOP 9 championship squads have one franchise that jumps out above the rest. I wonder why?
You could also argue that nobody was beating the Bulls in 1997 when they won 69 regular season games that year, as they won back to back Championships, and 5 titles in 7 years on their way to a 2nd repeat with 6 titles in 8 years.
It would have been nice if PJ Brown of the Miami Heat didn’t toss Charlie Ward of the NY Knicks like a ragdoll during the Eastern Conference Semifinals, causing half the Knicks Team to be suspended for the final 2 games of the series, robbing the Knicks of a puncher’s chance to face-off and potentially dethrone the Bulls.
The 4th Knicks v. Pacers playoff series
1998 playoffs Eastern Conference Semifinals “Pacers won 4 games to 1”
The Knicks did get their revenge on the Heat in round 1 of these playoffs. As Jeff Van Gundy clung to Alonzo Mourning’s leg, and the Karma Gods punished the Heat worse than the Knicks during the 1998 1st round basket-brawl series! As the Knicks advanced to round 2 to face the Pacers.
Honestly, this 2nd round match-up was probably the least memorable Knicks v Pacer’s series of them all, it was also the most lop-sided one. Ewing broke his wrist during the regular season, and was no longer the same player, and the Knicks were mediocre, at best. They were a 7 seed happy to knock off the 2 seeded Heat*.
*The Pacers had a better record than the Heat that season, even though the Heat were the 2 seed. I’m so glad that in 2015 the league finally changed their rules and stopped rewarding division champions with weak records, and now just seeds all teams per conference 1-8 based solely on record.
The 5th Knicks v. Pacers playoff series
1999 playoffs Eastern Conference Finals “Knicks won 4 games to 2”
The Larry Johnson 4-point play is one of the most iconic shots not only in Knicks history, but in playoff basketball history. And yet, it was only Game 3 of that series. Of course, the Knicks won to go up 2-1, but there was a lot of basketball still to be played.
Granted, Ewing went down in Game 2, when the Knicks were up 1-0. And they subsequently lost Game 2. Some people thought this was going to lead to the Knicks imminent demise. But other people thought this improved the Knicks chances to win this series.
Hence, why this series always brought the birth of Bill Simmons’ iconic Ewing Theory (which is applicable to all sports).
What's the Ewing Theory? Where did it come from?
The theory was created in the mid-'90s by Dave Cirilli, a friend of mine who was convinced that Patrick Ewing's teams (both at Georgetown and with New York) inexplicably played better when Ewing was either injured or missing extended stretches because of foul trouble” - Bill Simmons https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/010509a
Whether the Ewing Theory is really true or not, it caught wildfire ever since this series, and it’s still mentioned by Bill Simmons every time a key player (on any team in any sport) gets injured during a critical part of the season.
1999 was an incredibly weak season, as the league packed in 50 regular season games from February through May, as there was an owner’s lockout. The Knicks were the first 8 seed to ever advance to the Finals. And they not only conquered the Pacers this season but also broke the hearts of the Heat as well!
This 1999 season was honestly the last glorious Knicks moment we fans have had until last Friday May 16, 2025.
The 6th Knicks v. Pacers playoff series
2000 playoffs Eastern Conference Finals “Pacers won 4 games to 2”
Of course, the Knicks did make it back to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2000. But it was almost like a last gasp of the Riley/Van Gundy teams. There wasn’t any great celebration for them making it that far, that year. It was more like a certain level of understanding that the Knicks needed to do a mini-rebuild on the fly.
Or rather the Knicks get lost in the Wilderness for the better part of 2 decades!!!
200-2001: Ewing was traded in the off-season, and while the Knicks were still a top 4 seed in the east they bowed out to the Raptors in 5 games. The Raptors were led by Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, and steely veteran and former Knicks legend, Charles Oakley.
2001-2002: Jeff Van Gundy quit in December 2001. The Knicks failed to make the playoffs that year, and didn’t return to the playoffs until 2004, where they lost to the (then) NJ Nets 0-4.
02-03: Knicks Missed the playoffs for the 2nd year in a row
2003-04: Knicks get swept out of the playoffs as a 7 seed
04-05: Knicks miss the playoffs
05-06: Knicks miss the playoffs for a 2nd year in a row
06-07: Knicks miss the playoffs for a 3rd year in a row
07-8: Knicks miss the playoffs for a 4th year in a row
08-09: Knicks miss the playoffs for a 5th year in a row
09-10: Knicks miss the playoffs for a 6th year in a row
2010-11: Knicks make the playoffs as a 6 seed and get swept by the Celtics
2011-12: Knicks make the playoffs as a 7 seed, and lose in 5 games to the eventual champion Miami Heat
2012-13 Knicks have their most successful playoff campaign since the start of the century, beating the Celtics in 6 games as the 2nd seed.
The 7th Knicks v. Pacers playoff series
2013 playoffs Eastern Conference Finals “Pacers won 4 games to 2”
The Knicks were built to match up well against the Heat. The Pacers got in their way. NY apparently had no answer for Indiana’s Center, Roy Hibbert. Carmelo Anthony celebrated this 2nd round exit as a successful season.
It was Melo’s 3rd season as a Knick. He led his team to one playoff series victory and a total of 7 playoff wins in those first 3 seasons. Carmelo Anthony played four more seasons for the Knicks and never saw the playoffs again.
13-14 Knicks almost made the playoffs, and were still an interesting team
14-15 Phil Jackson is the new GM and Melo is still the face of the team, but they missed the playoffs for a 2nd straight year
15-16 Melo is still the face of the team, but they missed the playoffs for a 3rd straight year
16-17: Melo is still the face of the team, but they missed the playoffs for a 4th straight year. They also whiff on an incredibly deep NBA draft.
Carmelo Anthony - The Anchor that sunk Phil Jackson's Ship!?
I recently re-released my book review of Peter Richmond's Biography on Phil Jackson “Lord of the Rings”.
17-18 Knicks missed the playoffs for a 5th straight year
18-19 Knicks missed the playoffs for a 6th straight year
19-20 Knicks missed the playoffs for a 7th straight year
2020-2021 Knicks lose to the Hawks in 5 in the first round as the #4 seed, Tom Thibideau is Coach of the year in his first year with the Knicks
2021-2022 Knicks miss the playoffs, yet there is still optimism around the team.
In the Summer of 2022 Jalen Brunson signed with the NY Knicks. He has been the biggest acquisition the Knicks have ever made since they acquired Patrick Ewing in the 1985 NBA Draft!
2022-2023: The Knicks are the 5 seed and beat the 4th seeded Cavs in 5 games to advance to round 2.
They eventually lose to the soon to be Eastern Conference Champion Heat in 6 games in round 2.
2023-2024: The Knicks are the 2 seed and beat the 7th seeded 76ers in 6 games in Round 1
The 8th Knicks v. Pacers playoff series
2024 playoffs Eastern Conference Finals “Pacers won 4 games to 3”
Honestly, this was actually a bit of a painful series loss. They won their first two games at home, only to lose 4 out of the next 5. Coach Thibs tried to get his team to deliver the knock-out punch in Game 3, but in some ways that back-fired spectacularly. By Game 7 OG was hurt and so was Brunson.
But, honestly, compared to the happy-go-lucky Carmelo Anthony, Jalen Brunson was still burning inside from that series loss. And this is part of the reason why he is so beloved in NY.
As the shock and awe of this Game 1 ECF loss is still very palpable in the lead-up to Game 2, there are actually 6 incredibly brutal losses I remember as a Knicks fan dating back to 1992.
Rockets Game 7 Finals victory in 1994, most famous for John Starks going 3-18
Bulls Game 5 ECF victory in 1993, most famous for Charles Smith missing multiple layups from point blank range at the end of that game, swinging the series firmly in Chicago’s favor
The Reggie Miller 8 points in under 9 seconds, playoff game
Knicks lose to Rockets in Game 6 1994 Finals 86-84, on Hakeem Olajuwon last second block on John Stark 3-point attempt
Knicks lose to Pacers in Game 7 1995 on a Patrick Ewing Finger Roll miss
Knicks get all these players suspended right in the middle of the 1997 playoff series vs the Heat
Rationale behind each ranking
Losing the last possible game of the year is always the worst (but the 2013 Game 6 loss was probably worse for the Spurs than their Game 7 loss to the Heat).
Everyone knew the Knicks weren’t going to win Game 6 (on the road!) against the MJ led Bulls after that loss.
I actually am still in disbelief that the Knicks blew this game!
It didn’t feel quite as bad at the time, because there was a real belief the Knicks would beat the Rockets the next Game, despite being on the road.
It was heart-breaking to see Ewing miss that shot.
I’m not saying the Knicks would have been able to beat the Bulls that year in a series, but it would have been nice to see a Jeff Van Gundy lead team with an opportunity to take their best shot, given how talented (and healthy!) that Knicks squad was.
If the Knicks do lose this Eastern Conference Finals Series to the Pacers, would I include “Haliburton Choke gesture game” on this list?? I’m not sure. Right now, I’d say no. But sometimes you can’t help but get swept up in the history of the Knicks and be sucked into the collective PTSD we as fans all feel.
Interesting facts about this series and this Knicks team:
I think the Knicks always had the odds stacked against them to some extent. The only time a little guard (under 6’3) was the best player on a title team was when Isiah Thomas led the Pistons to back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990. Since then, only one team with a little guard has even made the finals, and that was Allen Iverson with the 76ers in 200-2001.
I’m still riding with the Knicks to win this series in 7. Although history is not on their side. I am not able to locate this statistic, but apparently the Knicks have never won a playoff series when they lost game 1 at home. That and they had something like a 98.8% or 99.7% likelihood of victory in Game 1 with less than 3 minutes to go. That’s just brutal.
Is the trauma of being a Knicks fan and the Trauma of being a Liberal in Trump’s America a false equivalency? Or is it a legit comparison?
But I kind of look at it like this. As an American I’m surviving another Trump term. I’m pretty sure I can continue to survive being a heart-broken Knicks fan too. But, just like the Pacers didn’t give up in Game 1, I’m not giving up on the Knicks heading into Game 2!
Until next time,
-JPJ
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