On Monday, Game 1 of the second round between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers will take place. Both teams advanced out of the first round in six games.
The Knicks got through a hard-fought series with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Pacers were able to dispatch the Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Milwaukee Bucks.
Indiana and New York had an epic rivalry throughout much of the 1990s. The two teams met six times in an eight-season span in the playoffs from 1993-2000. Each team won the series three times.
People forget that the Knicks/Pacers rivalry was so iconic they made a whole documentary dedicated to it
pic.twitter.com/wAT6uYYQiB
— The Lead (@TheLeadSM) May 4, 2024
The Pacers last met the Knicks in the playoffs in 2013. In that second-round meeting, Indiana advanced in six games.
As of this writing, New York is listed as a -245 favorite according to DraftKings Sportsbook to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Additionally, the vast majority of sports media members are picking the favorite in the series.
Overwhelming Support From Media for Knicks to Advance
New York Picked Unanimously by ESPN
On Saturday, ESPN posted their predictions from NBA experts on who will advance between the Knicks and Pacers (as well as the Nuggets and Timberwolves). Fifteen experts made their choice, and all 15 predicted the Knicks would prevail.
ESPN’s panel of NBA experts unanimously say that the Knicks will beat the Pacers in Round 2 of the NBA Playoffs. pic.twitter.com/ZOfxldfukH
— KnicksMuse (@KnicksMuse) May 4, 2024
While none of the 15 predicted a sweep, only three picked the series to go the full seven games. Seven have New York winning in six, while the other five have them advancing in five games.
CBS Sports Does Likewise
CBS Sports also provided their NBA expert’s second-round picks on Saturday. Six people gave their choices, and all six went with the Knicks to move past the Pacers.
Unlike ESPN, one of the experts is predicting New York to win in a sweep. Otherwise, there are three picking the Knicks in six with the other two predicting the series to go five games.
Yahoo! Sports Joins in With Not Believing in the Pacers
Another Saturday prediction article online, another one where everyone chooses the Knicks. Yahoo! had four of their writers make their predictions, and they all had the same outcome of New York advancing.
Two of their writers picked the Knicks in six games, one said in five games, and the other is picking them to win in seven.
Long Time Since the Knicks Last Reached the Conference Finals
These are predictions from just three publications, but none of them had even a single choice for the Pacers to advance. Twenty-five picks, twenty-five choose the Knicks to reach the Eastern Conference Finals.
It has been quite a long time since New York advanced that far in the playoffs. Their last Eastern Conference appearance was in 2000, which was also Patrick Ewing’s last season with the team. Despite what the media is saying, they still need to win four more games to do so.
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