The New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers are writing the ninth installment of their playoff rivalry in this season’s Eastern Conference Final, further continuing the story of one of the greatest dramas in NBA history.
Last season’s meeting in the Eastern Conference semifinals awakened a feud that had been largely dormant for the previous quarter century, but New York’s return to the upper echelons of the NBA has reinvigorated the Big Apple, who just quite seem to shake Indiana when they do make a playoff run.
Here, we rank all eight of the two teams’ previous meetings in the postseason, with the hopes of adding these 2025 conference finals near the top of the list in a week or two.
8. 1998 Eastern Conference semifinals
The heavily favored Pacers disposed of the Knicks in five games despite the hasty return of Patrick Ewing.
The Hall-of-Fame center shattered his wrist in December of 1997, and watched as his Knicks defeated the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs. After Indiana took Game 1, he returned for the second game, but it was not nearly enough.
Indiana would lose in the conference finals to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ final championship team.
7. 2013 Eastern Conference semifinals
Fresh off their first playoff series victory since 2000, the Knicks were overwhelmed by the Pacers in six games in the second round.
Carmelo Anthony averaged 28.5 points per game in the series, but had little help elsewhere, as JR Smith was the team’s second-leading scorer with just 13.5 points per game.
Indiana’s center, Roy Hibbert, gave the Knicks fits all series, averaging 13.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 3.2 blocks per game.
6. 1993 Eastern Conference quarterfinals
In the best-of-five first-round series, the 60-win Knicks cruised to a 2-0 series lead before John Starks famously headbutted Reggie Miller (his name is going to come up a lot here) in Game 3 to get himself ejected and draw the ire of Ewing and enforcer Charles Oakley.
The Knicks closed it out in Game 4 and advanced to the conference final before losing to MJ and the Bulls.
5. 2024 Eastern Conference semifinals
The Knicks jumped out to a 2-0 series lead before their onslaught of injuries caught up with them.
Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, and Bojan Bogdanovic were already out, OG Anunoby’s hamstring injury limited him immensely, Josh Hart was dealing with an abdominal issue, and in Game 7, Jalen Brunson broke his hand.
Wannabe-Reggie-Miller Tyrese Haliburton led the charge in Game 7 to bombard the Knicks out of the playoffs, even wearing the famous choking Miller on his sweatshirt after the game.
4. 2000 Eastern Conference Finals
Miller went off for 34 points at Madison Square Garden in Game 6 to close out the Knicks and snag bragging rights forever over Ewing, who missed time in the series with a foot injury.
Not only was it the last time the two Hall of Famers met in the playoffs, but for the Pacers, it punched their first and only ticket to the NBA Finals. They were steamrolled by Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and the Los Angeles Lakers.
3. 1999 Eastern Conference semifinals
Best known for Larry Johnson’s iconic four-point play, the Knicks were trailing by three points with just under 12 seconds to go in Game 3. Johnson caught an inbound pass from Charlie Ward, pump-faked to get Indiana’s Antonio Davis off the ground, then created minimal contact while draining a 24-foot three-pointer.
The zoomed-out footage from Madison Square Garden exploding after his shot hit the bottom of the bucket is one of the most indelible images in franchise history.
The Knicks, who snuck into the playoffs during that lockout-shortened year, became the first No. 8 seed to reach the NBA Finals, but lost in five games to the San Antonio Spurs. They have not reached the Finals since.
2. 1995 Eastern Conference semifinals
Miller put on perhaps one of his greatest performances ever in Game 1 of this series, scoring eight points in nine seconds to stun the Knicks, who held a six-point lead with 19 seconds to go at MSG.
With that momentum, Indiana built a 3-1 series lead, but the Knicks clawed back to force a Game 7, which included a game-winning floater by Ewing with 1.8 seconds to go to win Game 5.
He would have no such luck in Game 7, though, as his game-tying lay-up clanged off the back rim and out as time expired.
1. 1994 Eastern Conference Finals
With the series knotted up at two games apiece, and with the Knicks holding a double-digit lead for significant portions of Game 5, a poor-shooting Miller finally came to life in the fourth quarter after being heckled by New York superfan Spike Lee all game.
He scored 25 points on 10 shots in the final frame, and when a late three-pointer gave Indiana the lead, he turned to Lee and made the famous choking sign — an image that has become the cover photo of the Knicks/Pacers rivalry.
But Starks poured in 26 points in Game 6 to force a winner-take-all Game 7, where Ewing shone. The Knicks legend dropped 24 points with 22 rebounds, seven assists, and five blocks, and had the winning putback dunk to lift New York to its first NBA Finals since 1973.
They would fall in seven games to the Houston Rockets.
