A happy memory for Indiana fans: Here’s what happened the last time the Knicks and Pacers met in the Conference Finals
The Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks meet again in the NBA playoffs - 25 years on from their last Conference Finals clash.
Appearing in the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years, the New York Knicks are preparing to take on the Indiana Pacers - the same team they faced at this stage of the playoffs a quarter of a century ago.
Back in 2000, it was the Pacers who triumphed over the Knicks, as Indiana finally booked its place in the NBA Finals after a series of Conference Finals heartbreaks.
Two of those disappointments had come against the Knicks - and it’s fair to say Indiana’s victory in the Eastern title decider followed a decade that had witnessed the consolidation of a bitter rivalry between the franchises.
Tensions build during ’90s matchups
In all, the Pacers and the Knicks have met in eight NBA playoff series, five of which came during the 1990s.
In both ’94 and ’99, the Knicks came out on top in Conference Finals against Indiana (who, in between those clashes, also lost the East’s championship series to the Magic in 1995 and to the Bulls in 1998).
In ’94, the Knicks needed seven games to beat Indiana, in a series best remembered for Pacers star Reggie Miller’s efforts to taunt famous New York fan Spike Lee, by aiming a ‘choking’ gesture at the filmmaker.
A year earlier, when the teams met in the first round, tensions between the franchises had also been stoked when Miller was the recipient of a headbutt by John Stark - an infamous outburst that saw the Knicks guard ejected.
“The groundwork for the bitterness between the teams was laid with the headbutt,” recalls Fox’s Ryan Canfield.
In ’99, the Knicks then lifted the Eastern Conference title with a 4-2 series win over the Pacers.
However, while New York held something of a hoodoo over Indiana in ’90s Conference Finals, it is actually the Pacers who have the better record across the teams’ all-time playoff series.
What is the Knicks and the Pacers’ playoff head to head?
Indiana has won five out of eight series against the Knicks in the NBA postseason, including all three matchups in the 21st century.
In between Conference Semi-Final victories over the Knicks in 1995, 1998, 2013 and 2024, the men from the Hoosier State got their revenge for ’94 and ’99 by beating New York to the Eastern Conference title in 2000, courtesy of a 4-2 series win.
Pacers vs the Knicks - every playoff series:
- 1993 First Round: Knicks won 3-1
- 1994 Conference Fs: Knicks won 4-3
- 1995 Conference SFs: Pacers won 4-3
- 1998 Conference SFs: Pacers won 4-1
- 1999 Conference Fs: Knicks won 4-2
- 2000 Conference Fs: Pacers won 4-2
- 2013 Conference SFs: Pacers won 4-2
- 2024 Conference SFs: Pacers won 4-3
What happened in the Pacers vs the Knicks in 2000?
Having eliminated the Philadelphia 76ers and the Miami Heat, respectively, the Pacers and the Knicks faced off for the Eastern Conference championship for the second year in a row.
After trading home wins in the first four games of the series, the top-seeded Pacers edged ahead in Game 5 in Indianapolis, when Travis Best’s 24 points led the hosts to an 88-79 triumph over the No. 3 seed.
In Game 6 at Madison Square Garden, the Pacers then secured series victory with the 2000 Eastern Conference Finals’ only road win - a 93-80 victory in the Big Apple. Miller racked up 34 points, of which 17 were scored in a clutch final quarter.
Pacers 4-2 Knicks: 2000 Eastern Conference Finals, game by game:
- Game 1: Knicks 88-102 Pacers
- Game 2: Knicks 84-88 Pacers
- Game 3: Pacers 95-98 Knicks
- Game 4: Pacers 89-91 Knicks
- Game 5: Knicks 79-88 Pacers
- Game 6: Pacers 93-80 Knicks
Pacers, Knicks both out to end Finals, title waits
After knocking out the Knicks in 2000, the Pacers went on to lose the NBA Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers - and haven’t contested the Larry O’Brien Trophy since then.
The franchise is yet to win an NBA title in the 52 years since it joined the NBA.
The Knicks were also Finals losers after their Conference Finals victories over the Pacers. Those defeats to the Rockets and the Spurs in ’94 and ’99, respectively, are New York’s only Finals appearances since the team won its second and most recent NBA championship, back in 1973.
Pacers vs Knicks: Game 1 tip-off time, how to watch
In Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Eastern Conference Finals, the Pacers visit the Knicks at Madison Square Garden today, Wednesday, May 21. Tip-off in New York is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT.
Viewers in the United States will be able to watch Game 1 on TNT. You can also follow live-text coverage of the Pacers vs the Knicks right here at AS USA: Dane Arlauckas will be talking you through all the action.
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