NBA Playoff History
Growing up, I used to be a fan of the New York Knicks. I remember that back in the 1980's, they were terrible. One of the worst teams in the league, actually. But I cheered up once they began to get good. Each season seemed to bring them a step closer to greatness, to possible championships. They overcame an 0-2 series deficit to beat the Boston Celtics, 3 games to 2, in the 1990 playoffs. Then the next season, legendary head coach Pat Riley came to New York. Having enjoyed phenomenal with the Los Angeles Lakers, I expected him to bring similar championship success to the New York Knicks.
The team didn't just take small steps to greatness, but improved by leaps and bounds. They forced the mighty Chicago Bulls to a decisive Game 7 in 1992. And in 1993, they were the top team in the Eastern Conference, earning home court advantage throughout the playoffs. Everybody expected the Knicks and Bulls to meet in the Eastern Conference Finals, and that is exactly what happened. When the Knicks took a 2-0 series lead, I rejoiced, and was sure that the Knicks were on the verge of the NBA Finals, which I assumed they would win.
Yet that was where it ended. Once the series shifted to Chicago, the Knicks seemed to lose their composure and confidence. One thing that had bothered me about the Knicks all season was that they talked, and talked, and talked. Listening to them, you would think that they had already won the NBA Championship. This really bothered me, probably more than it should have. So after such a great and promising start to that series, when they lost all of their composure and effectively got swept by the Bulls for the rest of the series, I began to resent the Knicks.
That led to the 1993-94 season. Michael Jordan retired for the first time, and the Knicks suddenly emerged as the favorites to come out of the East. This felt like the Knicks were going to the NBA Finals almost by luck, since they had never beaten the Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan in the playoffs. Yet the Knicks were still talking. By this point, I was growing tired of the talking, and wanted to see somebody knock them out.
Still, there was no doubt that the Knicks were a solid team. They were the second seed in the Eastern Conference, behind the Atlanta Hawks. But the Hawks felt like a flukey kind of a team. Sure enough, they got knocked out by the Indiana Pacers, who punched their ticket into the Eastern Conference Finals. Meanwhile, the Knicks barely outlasted a Chicago Bulls team without Michael Jordan in Game 7. I hoped that Indiana would win, but wasn't exactly counting on it.
The stage was set for the Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks, and what would prove to be the first really great series between these two franchises. This would become one of the most iconic playoff rivalries of the nineties, and for good reason.
New York was heavily favored, and after solid wins in the first two home games in New York, everything seemed to be following the script.
However, the Pacers won Game 3, holding Knicks star center Patrick Ewing to 1 point. That was kind of an embarrassing loss for the Knicks, and it seemed to kill the early momentum that they had built early in the series. The Pacers kept the pressure on by pulling out Game 4 to even the series, which shifted back to Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks wanted to make a statement for Game 5, as the series shifted back to Madison Square Garden. Sure enough, they came out on fire and were absolutely having their way with the Pacers, and building a 17-2 lead early on. It looked like it was going to be a blowout. The Pacers tried to battle back, but the Knicks seemed to have all the answers, and appeared well on their way to a comfortable win.
That was when a strange thing happened. One man got hot and turned the game around. Reggie Miller, perhaps the greatest three-point artist and clutch shot maker in history, had the famous (or infamous, if you're a Knicks fan) quarter, where he hit shots at all different angles, including five three pointers. Slowly but surely, the Pacers cut into New York's lead, then took over the game. You could watch and actually see the Knicks losing confidence, while Indiana gained in confidence themselves. It didn't help New York any that Spike Lee, one of their famous fans, kept taunting Reggie Miller, helping him fuel the fire. In the process, Miller helped push the Indiana Pacers past the Knicks, turning what had seemed an inevitable New York win into a shocking win for Indiana, and a 3-2 series lead, as the series shifted back to Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
It was one of the most amazing single game turnarounds I have ever seen, and in just about any sport. Maybe it does not rank as one of the greatest comebacks in sports, or even in NBA, history, but it feels like it should. The game really felt like it belonged to New York, and then, just like that, Miller's hot streak accelerated the unraveling process for the Knicks. Indiana's defense also stepped up in a big way, helping to make Miller's incredible performance stand up. Incredibly, the Pacers now led the series 3 games to 2, and had a chance to win the series outright as it shifted back to Indiana.
To their credit, the Knicks responded. They dictated most of Game 6 (I thought they were going to get blown away, after the devastating home loss in Game 5). Still, once again in the fourth quarter, the Knicks began to lose their composure and even collapse, and Indiana overcame another large deficit to tie it up. It suddenly looked like the series belonged to the Pacers, that they were headed to the NBA Finals. But then the Knicks showed their stuff, finally answering, tightening up on defense, and holding the Pacers off (just barely), to force the decisive Game 7.
Fittingly, the series went to Madison Square Garden for the decisive Game 7. It was very tight, and went to the final shot in the waning seconds. Patrick Ewing was able to get a finger roll that went in, securing their first NBA Finals appearance in almost two decades. They had managed to survive a very tough and physical series, and moved past Indiana to make their first NBA Finals in over 20 years. However, they would go on to lose in seven in another very tough series, this time against the Houston Rockets. It remains the only NBA Finals series in history that went to seven games, and where every single game was decided by less than 10 points. Still, the Knicks lost, and there was a sense of having missed another opportunity.
That was the first, but arguably the most magical and memorable, series between the Knicks and Pacers. They would meet numerous other times in the playoffs in the future, and each time, you just knew it was going to be intense, physical, and unpredictable. Both teams were solid, and matched up well with one another. These contests became more like chess matches, although Reggie Miller's hot hand would always be the wild card.
That was again certainly the case in Game 1 in 1995, when the Pacers and Knicks met once again, this time in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Knicks once again seemed assured of a win. They had not dominated, but they were winning, and doing so fairly comfortably, with the clock seemingly running out on the Pacers. But that was when another crazy sequence once again unraveled the Knicks. Reggie Miller famously scored eight points in less than ten seconds, turning what had seemed solidly to be a Knicks win in Game 1 into another Indiana shocker. Reggie Miller was incredible, and his greatest highlights always seemed to come against the Knicks, and particularly at Madison Square Garden, where he tormented both the Knicks and their fans.
The Pacers would look strong early on in that 1995 series, racing to a 3-1 series lead. It looked like they were capable of making short work of the Knicks at that point. Yet to their credit, New York battled back, once again showed their character and resilience, winning two consecutive games, first at Madison Square Garden in Game 5 simply to stay alive, then incredibly, handing the Pacers another home defeat in Game 6 to force a Game 7, which once again would be played at Madison Square Garden.
Once again, the game was tight and hard fought by both sides. Once again, it came down to the final seconds, with Indiana leading it late. Also once again, Patrick Ewing got the chance to win it for the Knicks with another finger roll. However, almost shockingly, the ball that seemed to be destined to go through the hoop instead somehow bounced out, and Pacers defenders quickly grabbed the rebound as time expired. This time, the Pacers had managed to hang on in a close one to advance. However, they would lose a tough Eastern Conference Finals series to the then red hot Orlando Magic in another Game 7.
These two teams met again in 1998, 1999, and 2000. None of those series were quite as memorable as the prior two series in 1994 and 1995 were, although they were characteristically tough and dictated by defense. There was another Miller moment in the 1998 Eastern Conference Semifinals, with him sinking a three with little time remaining, in yet another game that the Knicks had seemed to have clinched, only to watch Miller burst their bubble right at the clutch time at the end of the game and derail them. The Pacers carried that momentum and would win that series surprisingly easily, eliminated the Knicks in five. It turns out that Reggie Miller had some more magic in him against the Bulls, sinking a clutch three-point play, beating Michael Jordan in the process, with almost no time left on the clock. Still, the Bulls would hang on to win that Eastern Conference Finals in Game 7. It was only the second time that Chicago had been forced to a Game 7 during their dynasty days with Michael Jordan, with the Knicks series in 1992 being the only other time. That also was the last year of the Bulls championship dynasty.
But the two teams would meet again the next two postseasons, both times in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Knicks would get the better of the Pacers once again in 1999, during their amazing Cinderella run. First, they joined the 1994 Denver Nuggets as the only two eight seeds (at the time) to have beaten the number one seed (the Knicks knocked off the Miami Heat), and then ran all the way to the Eastern Conference Championship, beating the Pacers for those honors, for the second time in six seasons. The memorable moment this time was not by Reggie Miller, and did not go in Indiana's favor. Rather, it was a controversial foul on Larry Johnson's successful three-point play in Game 3 which helped decide it, as he converted the free throw for a very rare four point play, which effectively buried the Pacers. Once again, the Knicks went to the NBA Finals, and also once again, they faced a Texas team with a star center. This time, it was the San Antonio Spurs, with David Robinson at center, and a rookie Tim Duncan, who had emerged as an absolute superstar in the league. The Spurs dominated, as they would win it in five for their first NBA title.
In 2000, however, it was a different story. Once again the Pacers and Knicks met in another Eastern Conference Finals. This time, it was Indiana who upended New York, securing the win at Game 6 in Madison Square Garden as an extra insult to the injury. It seems that almost all of the most memorable moments - Miller's magic in Game 5 in '94, Game 1 in '95, and Game 1 in 1998, and then that four-point play by Larry Johnson in 1999 - happened at Madison Square Garden. This time, the Pacers reached the NBA Finals, where they lost to the emerging dynasty in Los Angeles in six games.
Such evenly matched teams, and they defined playoff intensity, even if neither team actually would hoist an NBA championship trophy or earn their championship rings during those eras. They truly brought out the best in one another.
The two franchises met in the playoffs once again in 2013. The Pacers won that series, 4 games to 2. But it felt very different, and not nearly as intense, or frankly as much fun, as those series back in the nineties and early 2000's had been.
Now, the two teams have met again. It's 2024, which means that these two franchises have met in at least one playoff series in four consecutive decades.
The New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers.
This time, the series has not been dictated by tough defense, as much as by explosive offenses on both sides. Not nearly as physical or grueling,. Also, neither team has managed to produce a win on the road, at least not yet. If New York wins, then the road team would have been denied in every single game of this series. If Indiana wins, then they will produce the only road win in the series, and right at the end. Also, let's face it: there has not really been any magical moments on the level of Reggie Miller or Larry Johnson, at least thus far.
Yet, there is always Game 7, which has yet to be played. And Game 7's can produce some huge and immortal moments. Especially between these two franchises.
To me, these two teams meeting in the playoffs felt like a good spring tradition, one that I thoroughly enjoyed and looked forward to.
That was playoff basketball to me. So glad they are meeting in this postseason, as well. And I'm particularly happy that this series is going the distance, with yet another Game 7 to be played at Madison Square Garden. Somehow, that just feels right to me, like one of the best spring traditions.
No longer do I really hate the Knicks. In fact, I'd rather see them enjoy success than quite a number of teams, especially the hated Los Angeles Lakers, who I could happily go the rest of my life not seeing in the NBA Finals again, let alone winning another championship. Now, I am happy that these two teams have produced an exciting and memorable playoff series, and legitimately want them to produce a memorable Game 7, as well.
