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The Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks will play Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday night in Madison Square Garden, where they will add another chapter to their storied playoff history.
The Knicks and Pacers clashed in the playoffs six times from 1993-2000, with those series littered with heated moments between players and fans alike.
Below are some of the most iconic moments from the clashes between the bitter rivals over the years.
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New York Knicks guard John Starks, right, fouls Indiana Pacers guard Reggie Miller during a game on April 2, 1996, in Indianapolis. (JOHN RUTHROFF/AFP via Getty Images)
The Headbutt
The Knicks were up to 2-0 over the Pacers in the first round of the NBA playoffs in 1993 when tempers flared in the third quarter. Knicks star guard John Starks, after scoring, was trash-talking towards Reggie Miller.
The trash-talk culminated with Starks headbutting Miller. Starks was promptly ejected from the game. The Pacers won that Game 3, but the Knicks won the ensuing Game 4 and the series.
However, the groundwork for the bitterness between the teams was laid with the headbutt.
The Choke Gesture
In 1994, the two teams met again, this time in the Eastern Conference finals. The Knicks were looking to take a commanding 3-2 lead in Game 5 and were up 70-58 in the third quarter.
However, Miller dominated the fourth quarter, wheres he scored 25 of his 39 points. Throughout the fourth quarter, Miller was going back and forth with Knicks superfan Spike Lee.
Miller taunted Lee by making a now-infamous choke gesture. The Pacers won that Game 5 behind Millers’ strong performance but lost the next two games, and the Knicks won the series in seven games and went to the NBA Finals.
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New York Knicks’ Larry Johnson knocks down a 3-pointer and is fouled by Indiana Pacers’ Antonio Davis for a rare 4-point play in the Knicks’ playoff win on June 5, 1999. (Linda Cataffo/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
The Improbable Comeback
For the third straight year, the Pacers and Knicks faced off in the playoffs in 1995, this time in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Miller, who had been at the heart of the rivalry, authored one of the most incredulous comebacks in NBA playoff history.
The Knicks were up 105-99 with16 seconds left in the fourth quarter of Game 1 when Miller turned the game on its head by scoring eight points in nine seconds.
The Pacers star drilled a 3-pointer with about 16 seconds left, then hit another 3-pointer after he stole the Knicks’ inbound pass. After the Knicks missed a pair of free throws and a put-back attempt, Miller grabbed the rebound and was subsequently fouled.
Miller went to the free throw line, buried two free throws, and gave the Pacers a 107-105 lead.
The 1995 series, like the 1994 matchup, went the full seven games, but the Pacers prevailed this time and moved on to the Eastern Conference finals.
Larry Johnson’s 4-point Play
The two teams met in the 1998 Eastern Conference semifinals, but the Pacers were heavy favorites due to Knicks’ star Patrick Ewing’s wrist injury. The Pacers dispatched the Knicks in five games.
However, in the 1999 Eastern Conference finals, the two teams met again, and the Knicks were not as overmatched as they were the prior season.
The Knicks won the series in six games, with Johnson delivering one of the most iconic shots in franchise history in Game 3.
The Pacers held a 91-88 lead with six seconds left in the game when Johnson nailed a 3-pointer and was also fouled by Antonio Davis. Johnson hit the free throw to give the Knicks a 92-91 lead, and that score would hold as the Knicks snatched victory out of the jaws of defeat.
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Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton is shown during the fourth quarter of Game 7 in the second round of the playoffs against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden in New York on May 19, 2024. (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)
An All-Time Shooting Performance
The Pacers and Knicks played again in the Eastern Conference finals in 2000, and the Pacers outlasted the Knicks in six games, getting revenge for 1999.
The next time the two teams met in the playoffs was 2013 in the Eastern Conference semifinals, with new stars involved to reignite the rivalry.
The Paul George-led Pacers took down the Carmelo Anthony-led Knicks in six games.
The two teams wouldn’t see each other in the playoffs again until last season in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Pacers dispatched a Knicks team that was decimated by injury in Game 7 with a historic shooting performance.
The Pacers shot an astounding 67.1% from the field in that Game 7, good for an NBA playoff record, in their 130-109 victory.
The Pacers hold a 5-3 series record over the Knicks in the playoffs and hold a 26-22 playoff record against the Knicks.
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