The stage is set. The New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers are set to clash in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals inside the iconic Madison Square Garden. A rivalry that’s spanned over 30 years, with six previous playoff showdowns, is reignited under the brightest lights once again.
But this time, it’s not Reggie Miller vs. Patrick Ewing. It’s Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Haliburton — two of the most electric guards in the postseason — leading their respective franchises in a battle for Eastern Conference supremacy.
These two teams last met in the 2024 Eastern Conference Semifinals, where Indiana edged out a banged-up Knicks squad in a grueling seven-game series. Some say New York’s injuries swung the series. Others credit the Pacers’ execution. Either way, history remembers who moves on — and this year, the stakes are even higher.
Indiana has never hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy. The Knicks haven’t touched it since 1973. Only one team will get a step closer to rewriting that drought, and their opponent just so happens to be their most bitter playoff rival.
When was the last time these teams met in the Eastern Conference Finals?
Turn the clock back to the year 2000. That series saw Indiana, led by Reggie Miller, defeat the Knicks in six games to earn their first and only NBA Finals appearance. Miller averaged 21.8 points and 1.3 steals over 41.5 minutes per game, while Jalen Rose added 19.0 points in nearly 42 minutes per contest.
Ironically, Patrick Ewing wasn’t the driving force for New York in that series. It was Latrell Sprewell who led the charge, posting 19.7 points and 4.8 rebounds. Allan Houston contributed 18.8 points on a blistering 58.3% shooting from beyond the arc. Ewing would play in just four games before injury sidelined him for the remainder of the series.
But that wasn't the only time these rivals squared off for a Finals berth.
1999: The underdog Knicks strike back
Just a year earlier, in the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals, the Knicks stunned the Pacers and the basketball world by advancing to the NBA Finals. Coming off a Cinderella run as the eighth seed, New York toppled Indiana in six games, securing their second Finals appearance in six years.
The defining moment? Larry Johnson’s unforgettable four-point play in Game 3 that swung the momentum in New York’s favor. Johnson averaged 16.5 points during the series, but it was that iconic shot that lives on in franchise lore. Four of the six games were decided by six points or fewer — a testament to just how tight this rivalry has always been.
1994: Reggie Miller's choke and the birth of a villain
Of course, no conversation about this rivalry is complete without revisiting 1994 — the first time these two met in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Pacers pushed the Knicks to seven games in a brutal, emotionally charged series.
But it was Game 5 that became legend.
Reggie Miller poured in 25 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter, including a flurry of eight points in nine seconds, silencing the Madison Square Garden crowd and igniting one of the NBA’s most iconic images: Miller flashing the choke sign at Spike Lee.
The gesture, aimed directly at the heart of Knicks fandom, made headlines and sealed Miller’s status as a New York villain. To this day, that moment stands as the most infamous chapter in the Knicks-Pacers saga.
A new chapter begins
Now, the torch has been passed. Brunson vs. Haliburton. Thibodeau vs. Carlisle. A new generation of players carrying the weight of their franchises' history.
This isn’t just a trip to the Finals — it’s about legacy, heartbreak, and unfinished business.
Whether it ends in six, seven, or a buzzer-beater in Game 1, one thing is certain: Knicks vs. Pacers is never just another series. It’s a war written in bold ink across NBA history — and the next chapter starts now.