The Pacers' success, particularly on offense, is the product of a group of players that has bought in and an NBA champion coach who has evolved.

The Knicks (94.88) place third in pace among teams remaining in the postseason, barely surpassing the Minnesota Timberwolves (95.43). The Pacers (99.03) rank second behind the Oklahoma City Thunder (100.46). The Knicks, though, were on their way to solving the issue before worsening it themselves.

The Knicks had costly defensive breakdowns for the second straight game and acknowledged they have to "figure it out" as the series heads to Indiana for Game 3.

Former Gonzaga star Andrew Nembhard shined in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, sealing the Pacers’ win with a clutch layup and lockdown defense on Jalen Brunson.

For whatever reason, Thibodeau benched Towns for six minutes and 35 seconds of the fourth quarter — beginning at the nine-minute mark — while the Knicks fell short of a comeback attempt in Friday’s 114-109 loss at Madison Square Garden.

This might not be the conference finals matchup that many expected, but that just makes things all the more interesting.

In 2024, Indiana boasted the second-best offense and 24th-ranked defense ... at the Pacers improving simply because they wanted to seems a bit of an oversimplification, but his head coach backed ...

Entering the conference finals, the Pacers have the second-fastest pace of any playoff team still alive (99.3). Only the Oklahoma City Thunder are playing faster. The rest of the top-seven has been eliminated. Quicker teams are largely struggling.

NEW YORK — It’s the matchup Tyrese Haliburton wanted — one-on-one with the Knicks captain — and with just under five minutes left in the third quarter of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals matchup between the Knicks and Pacers, Indiana’s All-Star guard dialed his own number.