It’s officially Indiana Pacers vs New York Knicks. Early thoughts, key Pacers playoff stats, more

It’s officially Indiana Pacers vs New York Knicks. Early thoughts, key Pacers playoff stats, more

It’s officially Pacers Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals. How exciting. Let’s talk a little bit of Knicks, a little bit of Pacers playoff defining stats and why the Western Conference is actually important on a brief weekend locked on Pacers podcast. You are locked on Pacers, your daily Indiana Pacers podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. What’s up everybody? Happy Saturday and welcome in to another edition of the Locked On Pacers podcast where we of course talk about the Indiana Pacers. As always, my name is Tony East. I cover the team for Forbes and today I forgot my camera. I’m at the Fever Game which starts in about 30 minutes. I’m in a deepseated location in Gambridge Fieldhouse where I finally have time to talk about the Knicks. It became official last night. Knicks beat the Celtics in six games. It’s Pacers Knicks in the conference finals. Haven’t had a ton of time to watch those Pacers Knicks games from the regular season or really dive into New York. So, tomorrow, Sunday, will be me looking at the Knicks in a ton of detail uh and what challenges they’ll present the Pacers, some little advantages stuff. And then as the week goes on, Monday, Gavin Shaw from Lockdown Knicks and I. Tuesday, the usual where Pacers could get advantages before the series and then we’ll get rolling. But today, I’ll look a little bit at the Knicks. We got to talk to Miles Turner, uh, Andrew Nehard, and Rick Carlile about them today at practice. I want to talk a little bit about some stats that have defined the Pacers playoff success so far that I think will still be relevant in the series. And look at the Western Conference for about two minutes because amazingly, the West is actually still relevant for the Pacers. Uh, as I’m recording this, game seven of Nuggets Thunder is tomorrow. Let’s start with the Knicks. Very exciting, like story-wise, excitement wise of playoff basketball. Pacers Knicks is just as cool as it gets, right? How cool is this? Both teams last Finals appearance came at the expense of the other team. 2000 Pacers, their only finals appearance. They beat the Knicks that year. The Knicks last conference finals appear or last finals appearance in 99 beating the Pacers to get there right came in those battles they’ve played three game sevens against each other in playoff history obviously including one last year a named rivalry Hicks versus Knicks very exciting you know the many moments Reggie LJ Patrick Royy’s block I mean all of it right this has everything this has a ton of history behind it a ton of icons behind it it’s all on TNT So Reggie Miller is going to be on presumably some of the calls. I don’t actually know that, but I would imagine he’ll be on at least one. It’s just awesome, right? Like from a junkie of basketball perspective, this is very cool. And even from a non-junkie of basketball perspective, or if you’re just a younger fan, great. They played last year, they don’t like each other from that, right? It was a long, long series with lots of twists and turns and storylines and now they get another crack at each other. The Knicks look different, the Pacers don’t. It will roster-wise they’re playing different brands of basketball obviously and that will be so fun. Like zoom out from the specifics of how these teams play, what they’re good at, how the series will look. That part of this is all very fun and exciting to me. I think that will be just a ton of fun to be in the middle of and see how it, you know, changes the course of what the history of these teams, you know, battles have been throughout throughout the league. In terms of the specifics of the current Knicks, um, some stuff that intrigues me from a Pacers perspective, you know, starting with like the top talent is just better than last year. I don’t mean that to say that the Knicks are a harder team to beat for the Pacers necessarily. I would like to dive into the series more before getting there, but Brunson is amazing, right? He’ll have games in the series. He has games in his career, including many in Knicks Pacers last year where he’s just shooting at the rim like his defender’s not there, right? And people have taken that as like an Andrew Mhard wasn’t doing enough defending him stance, which I don’t really get. Uh like he needed to do better. They put Nith on him. But he does that to everyone. Ask the Pistons in the first round. Ask the Celtics at times in this round. Has he hit clutch shot after clutch shot in games one and two? He’s just really good. He’s m like we talked about with Nehard about guarding him today. Like he’s mastered these angles. You just have to try to wear him down to the extent you can. Like the Pacers get that. They did that last year. Carl Towns is a new thing. One, because these first two series, you’ve heard me talk about it. A key battle to me was Miles Turner versus the big because of the stretch element, drag guys out, you know, who’s going to the clash of styles. Like, is Jared Allen going to dominate this rebounding battle? No. Is Brook Lopez going to post up? No. Like, Cat can actually space and he is a monster rebounder. The Knicks are an awesome rebounding team. The team that won the rebounding battle won every game of the series last year. Towns just adds a tough element to this series. Now, I don’t think Miles Turner is actually going to guard him if I really think about the Knicks. It’s possible he does. I actually think it’s more possible that Seakum is guarding Towns and Miles Turner’s on Josh Hart. We’ll see what the Pacers actually decide to do. A lot of teams have done exactly what I just described. Again, we’ll see. I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, but I think that two-headed monster part of the Knicks makes them like throw out last year in the playoffs, right? That it’s so different. It doesn’t matter. And OG is just way better. So, that top talent is fascinating. Anobi is much improved. Cat and Brunson are just so tough, right? I think that that is just like strikes me as the most challenging offensive thing the Pacers have faced. Giannis was a beast. They threw everything at him and couldn’t stop. Maybe that is the best offensive thing that they faced. But in terms of a two-headed tandem, you know, Moby was okay in the first round. Gary Trent hit a bajillion threes. Like maybe that makes him an honest answer. like this is the hardest combo of two players to guard and strategize for that I think the Pacers have seen in this playoff so far and that will be I think a lot of where their game plan comes from is one stopping them as individuals and them working together and then how that spreads out to the rest of the roster will be interesting to me especially with again OG and Anobi improving we talked about John Washurn and I the top threes of both of these teams on the most recent podcast in this feed but the other part of this series that’s going to be a constant talking point right last year the War of attrition was part of Similarly, this year the Knicks have a great top five, right? Their starting five is good. I actually have a lot more details I want to provide on that tomorrow. But just big picture right now, let’s say this. The starting five is good. Deuce McBride is awesome. That dude makes a billion contested threes a game. Mitchell Robinson’s really good on the glass and is like very mobile defensively. I think an underrated defender. That’s kind of it, right? Campaign plays some, not very often because Brunson plays a lot. He was amazing in that game one win against the Pistons, but he’s not like a major focus of their rotation. and like occasionally Prescu is in there, but they don’t, you know, they don’t play more than seven guys a lot and eight guys hardly at all in the playoffs, you know, in these meaningful games, whereas everyone has been well documented and a story of the series will be the depth of the Pacers clashing with that style, right? The Pacers will certainly play eight, you know, McConnell, Matherin, and Tophen off the bench behind their usual starting five and then they’ve played 10 or 11 in many games with Brian and Shepard and Walker all getting minutes here and there. I haven’t really dove into who I think would get minutes in this series given what the Knicks specifically have. I would imagine given the history of the Pacers in the playoffs and just like an early glance at the Knicks, it would be Bryant and Shepard just like it was last series. We’ll see. But that that clash will be huge again like can the Pacers depth wear down a team that rides their starters or will those starters be so good? Right. The counterpoint that Rick Carlo said today is obvious like the Knicks best players play more, right? it what will win out in that clash or will that even end up being a defining characteristic of the series. Those two things really strike me from a Pacers perspective that clash and the star improvement, right? I will dive into the challenges or questions, you know, as we did before the Pacers first two series. Again, I am not saying these are the reasons I think the Pacers will lose when I do them. I just want to look at things that I think will be series defining or challenging for the Pacers. I think I did pretty good for both of those in the first two rounds. And then we’ll get into the Pacers Advantages show next week with the guest probably on Tuesday, which will be really fun. Um, I just hope people in positions to write or talk about the series, including myself, get enough of the history layout before the series actually starts. If you have the chance or you’re a big reader, if you can library rent or buy Chris Herring’s Blood in the Garden and read it before the series starts, highly recommend it to get the sense of like what this used to be as a rivalry. Awesome breed. Chris is the best. I hope I get to see him in MSG. Uh, let’s talk about the Pacers in the playoffs a little bit here. I just uh worked through a story last night about the Pacers pace. And I have some stats that I want to talk about that are playoff defining for the Pacers so far. Before we get into any of that, let’s talk about prize picks basketball season. It’s at its peak. And with the playoffs heating up, now is the time to put your sports knowledge to work with Prize Picks, the top platform for daily fantasy sports. Prize Pix makes it easy. You just pick more or less on at least two player projections and you’re in. Whether it’s points, rebounds, or assists, you’ve got a shot to win up to 2,000 times your entry this week. You could look at, you know, Jaylen Brunson for more or less than 29 points or Tyres Albert for more or less the nine assists. That app takes less than 60 seconds to use. You can mix and match basketball with other sports. When you make your picks, the payout hits fast, sometimes as low as 15 minutes. They have things like Taco Tuesday to give you discounts for more value. It’s a blast. Download the app today. Use the code lock down NBA to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. That’s code lock NBA to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup on prize picks. Run your game back here on Locked on Pacers. Thanks for making us your first listen on this lovely weekend. Locked on Knicks has to be your second listen. They just closed out the Celtics. They’re going to the conference finals for the first time in a quarter century. Awesome for the Knicks franchise. Those fans are going crazy outside of MSG. I enjoyed that broadcast quite a bit. Only two segments today. Again, I have uh some very soon coming Fever work that needs to get done uh because their game starts in about 15 minutes. But let’s run through a couple things that I want to get to that I’ve been writing about or working on and looking at that really matter to me when it comes to the Pacers playoff success. And that is that everything you used to know about what won in the playoffs, a lot of it still matters to some extent. talented players, isolation scores, things like that. They still matter. They still mattered in almost every series. They mattered in Pacers series last year when they played the Celtics. They’ll matter in Pacers series again in the future. These aren’t not things. But as I was running through some numbers on the Pacers, it has become fascinating to me how much they play not like that and play how they play in the playoffs and still are just crushing teams, right? Them and Minnesota are eight and two. Nobody else is even close to that record. Top passers made team in the playoffs this year. Pacers at 337 per game in their 10 games. Golden State who’s out at 314 per game. No one else is above 282. The Pacers are throwing 50 more passes per game than that’s 12 a quarter. That’s one pass a minute of basketball than any other team still alive. If the Nuggets lose game seven, the Pacers and Timberwolves will be the only teams in the top half of passes made per game among the 16 playoff teams that are still alive. It is not usual for just like highlevel passing and ball movement at that volume to win in a postseason setting and yet it is the thing for the Pacers. I wrote a story about this in Forbes during the regular season. They want to lead the league in passes. They have tactical reasons chosen for why they want to play that way and it’s showing up now why they like that and why they think that it is the way they should play. It gets everybody involved in a major way. A lot of guys on the team are making shots and it’s been a huge part of them winning, right? First in passes by a mile. Their shot making, right, comes from the assist numbers. You dive into their assist numbers from the passes. 29.7 assists per game for the Pacers in the playoffs. Next up is the Clippers who are out at 26 and then the Thunder at 25.3. Four more than anyone else. That is both a stat and a passing stat. 11 points from assists per game over other teams that are still alive, right? just ridiculous. 76.4 points per game created from assists. OKC is second at 65.4. The Pacers are passing teams to death. And part of playing fast is moving the ball. The Pacers are extremely good at that. The ball moves faster than any person can run on the court. And so if they want to keep up this tempo, and we’ll get to pace in just a second, because that’s the other playoffs defining stats to me about the Pacers has been their tempo. But the the passing is an understated part of it to me. And Hallebertton is the master of it. But as we’ve seen throughout the playoffs, if he’s trapped, he gets off the ball, right? He’s passing at the right level. I think some people think he’s overpassing and just shoot more. And I tend to agree with that a little bit. I think the word aggression is the wrong word, but he’s figuring out that balance. But as he takes on the hardest assignment or the most unique coverages every game, the Pacers need guys like T.J. McConnell, like Andrew Nhard, like even Pascalakum at times to pass to get the ball moving and not slow the game down, not get too settled into ISO scoring like they did in game three against both the Bucks and the Cavs a little bit. And when they play that way, regardless of who initiates the play, they just look fantastic, right? They look really hard to beat on offense. They’re getting good shots and they’re making them. I mean, that’s kind of a chicken and the egg scenario that I’ve been thinking about with the Pacers. Is their passing leading to the open shots that of course go in or are the shots going in leading to space for passing, right? That that is kind of hard to actually determine with the Pacers, but it doesn’t actually really matter because the shots have gone in enough that this style works and exists and is possible for them to play where they pass the ball way more than anyone else. I think for some teams, they don’t have the talent of passing to do it. I think some teams are afraid of the turnover volume. It could cause them like the Pacers had issues with turnovers early during the series against the Cavs. Like that’s all certainly a a fear. There’s a reason not every team plays this way, but it’s working for the Pacers uniquely. I find that to be extremely interesting as they go against the Knicks team now that does not play. They they play fashion they did last year, but not still not as fast as the Pacers. That leads me to pace, right? That the Pacers passing is so unique in this playoff setting. Uh, so is their pace and like the trope or the adage or the whatever word you want to use to define a saying is the game slows down in the playoffs, right? Phil Jackson used to say we’re going to grind our opponent down, right? Slow slow the game slows down. And for some reasons that makes sense. Like when I asked Tyrese about this, he said games are closer in the playoffs. Close games slow down every possession. Now, okay, I I get all that, but that I think the game slows down a little because of the physicality, too. Like I understand why people say the game slows down in the playoffs. If you just look at every team’s pace in the regular season in the playoffs, it is a little slower. Like it’s not a madeup thing. However, the Pacers want to play faster in the playoffs. They want to keep their speed. I remember being in MSG last year when the Pacers won game seven and a reporter was asking Tyrese about the Pacers, you know, not slowing down. And he says, “Do you think we slowed down?” Like half offended by the question. They want to play fast. And if you dive into the numbers, it’s crazy, right? If you look at the pace numbers of every team in the playoffs, the Pacers uh are only two of the top seven are going to make the conference finals, right? If OKC loses, the Pacers will be the only team in the top six that’s still alive. Cleveland’s out, Milwaukey’s out, Detroit’s out, Memphis is out. They tried to play fast. Everyone else is in the bottom half, right? So slower teams are having success just like teams that don’t pass as much are having success. Those stats go in tandem to me, especially when it comes to the Pacers. If OKC loses, they’re the only team still alive with that with a higher pace than the Pacers. And I think that’s largely because they played Memphis and that series was so fast. And Denver’s playing faster than I expected them to in the playoffs. But the Pacers pace has just been rapid. 99.3 possessions per game, barely below their regular season total, which is shocking. Shocking for a playoff setting, right? Only two of the top seven are going to still be alive after Sunday. And again, Pacers the only team in the top five of playoff pace, top six if Denver wins. and they’re and they’re still alive. I have a story coming about this and why I think it’s the case, but it’s been really interesting to ask the Pacers opponents about all of this during the playoffs. I asked Kenny Atinson about it. Um, you know, he talked about how they the Pacers want to speed up. They don’t want to slow down. Doc Rivers was like confused why the adage is even a thing. You know, he said, “Did you watch Magic Johnson on the Lakers? They didn’t slow down in the playoffs, right? the the the Celtics that won 11 titles in a row or 11 titles whatever their first 11 titles they weren’t slowing down right some people don’t believe it’s it’s real or as real as it says everybody knows it’s true to some extent because the numbers show it and the way the game is played kind of requires it at some point in every series Tyrese on the on a team trying to not slow down did admit there are some tactical reasons that it does and I mentioned some of them the other part of it is when you are dialed into what your opponent does and how they want to play it is a little easier to defend them you know what’s coming and when you can cut off more and more actions as the possession goes on and possession gets longer and the game gets slower because there’s less possessions per game. So, I understand why the playoffs slow down to some extent. I also think it’s fascinating that the Pacers are one of the only teams, in fact, they likely will be the only team left in the playoffs that plays fast and moves the ball to this extent and still walks away with wins. It’s hard to do that in a playoff setting without making mistakes, without being disconnected, without your opponent realizing what’s happening. And that leads to the final thing which is they play random as they call it. A lot of actions instead of plays. They’re not they don’t not run plays but like their plays have a lot of actions in them and stuff that they know what’s coming but their opponent doesn’t. It’s all very interesting. They fly around whenever they can. And it and the final factor that makes it successful is you can’t really prepare for it, right? If it’s random, how are you supposed to scout it and know it’s coming? If it’s fast, like Donovan Mitchell said last round, you can’t practice that fast. You just can’t, right? You cannot prep to play that way. You can get used to it in games and be better, but you can’t rest during a game. Like, you can talk about it, but the wear down effect became a part of of the Cleveland series. And so, I say all this stuff to say, eight minutes of stat talk to say there’s a perception of what the playoffs are and how teams usually play in those settings. And in large part, those are true. The Pacers do not care about those addages. They are going to play Pacers basketball come hell or high water. And it’s working. their second straight playoff or excuse me, conference finals appearance is not a fluke. The style works for them and they’re going to keep doing it until someone beats it. Boston beat them last year. The Pers will hope that they can win this year with that style. I have a story about the speed part of this coming out very soon with thoughts from a lot of the people whose names you just heard. Last thing I want to get to today very briefly, um the Western Conference. So Minnesota’s in the conference finals again. And there’s a weirdo alternate universe where the Pacers and Wolves are defending their 29 or 2024 finals runs. Regardless, Minnesota won 49 games this year. The Pacers won 50. So if you are a Pacers fan, you are rooting for the Timberwolves in the West because if they win, the Pacers would have homecourt advantage in the NBA finals as like that is fascinating. They would have had it anyway because they beat Minnesota twice if they did not win. But uh that is why you know some people who said who talked about that last game of the season against Cleveland and were psyched about 50 wins. And you could you could have ended up telling me to shove it if that ended up being the reason the Pacers get finals homecourt advantage. Who cares about a draft pick? That’s a huge deal. Denver has 50 wins. Also, the Pacers split the two games with them one to1 this season. I’ve gotten asked a few times who would have homecourt advantage. It’s the Nuggets. The Nuggets had a better conference record. They obviously play in different conferences, but the Nuggets had a better record against the West and the Pacers had against the East. And honestly, even though you’re playing in different conferences, and that seems like a weird tiebreaker, the West is harder. So, I think I’m I think I’m good with that tiebreaker going the way it does. Obviously, OKC has 68 wins. They would be they have homec court the rest of the way. Uh, but if Denver wins, they could still host the finals uh if they beat Minnesota. So, that is just something to keep an eye in the West. I think the Pacers will be rooting for the Wolves. And I think the Pacers will be rooting for every series they’re not involved in to go seven games. And it is now 258. The Pacers tip in or the Pacers the Fever tip in five minutes. I need to go and edit this and get it up as soon as possible. Thank you guys so much for listening on this Saturday. Another episode out tomorrow morning with a deeper dive into the New York Knicks, what challenges they will present the Pacers. Looking forward to that. Thank you all so much for listening to this one. See you very soon.

The Indiana Pacers will officially play the New York Knicks in the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals. What are some early things to ponder about the series? What stats have defined Indiana’s success, and will they matter in this series? Host Tony East breaks it all down.

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOPacers?sid=YouTube

Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNBA

📲 Follow Locked On Pacers on Twitter
Locked On Pacers https://twitter.com/lockedonpacers
Tony East https://twitter.com/TonyREast

#Pacers #IndianaPacers #NBA #PacersPodcast #IndianaPacersPodcast #TyreseHaliburton #BennedictMathurin #MylesTurner #PascalSiakam
Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
Prizepicks
Now’s the perfect time to join. Download the app today and use code LOCKEDONNBA to get $50 instantly when you play your first $5 lineup! That’s right—no need to win to get the bonus, it’s guaranteed. PrizePicks—Run Your Game!
Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNBA

Hungryroot
With Hungryroot, it’s like having a personal shopper and a nutritionist all in one. For a limited time, get 40% off your first box and a free item in every box for life! Just go to Hungryroot.com/lockedonnba and use code LOCKEDONNBA.

CarGurus
Buy or sell your next car today with CarGurus at CarGurus.com to make sure your big deal is the best deal.

WayFair
After the holiday hustle, there’s nothing like giving your home a little TLC. Give your home the refresh it needs with Wayfair. Head to Wayfair.com right now. Wayfair. Every style. Every home.

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4k
Did you know your Fire TV is also an Xbox? Turn any TV into your gaming and entertainment hub with Fire TV Stick 4K devices — no console required. Head to Amazon.com/firetvlockedon to get started. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription and compatible controller required.

Door Dash
Sign up for DashPass and when any player scores 50+ in a playoff game, DashPass members can grab a free 3PC Crispy Tenders Combo from Wingstop the next day, with a $20+ order and code WINGSTOP50. That’s DashPass: your door to more savings, more flavor, and more ways to win. Terms apply.

Valid only at participating Wingstop locations. Fees (including service fee), taxes, and gratuity still apply. Orders must have a minimum subtotal of $20, excluding taxes and fees. Offer valid on 4/15/25-6/22 /25 or while supplies last. Valid for one (1) promotional redemption per customer. DoubleDash promotions apply only to your DoubleDash add-on order, not your primary order. DoubleDash orders are not valid for the purchase of alcohol. No cash value. Non-transferable. Discount applies to subtotal only; does not apply to fees, taxes, and gratuity. Not valid for pickup. Limit one per person. Not valid for the purchase of alcohol. Fees, taxes, and gratuity still apply. Must have an active DashPass account. Use promo code WINGSTOP50 to redeem. See full terms and conditions at drd.sh/qnAXuU
Monarch Money
Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.

Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.

FanDuel
Right now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)