The Pacers built their roster around star Tyrese Haliburton, perfecting "a difficult style," as coach Rick Carlisle calls it.

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.

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 ...

Tyrese Haliburton responds to Rick Carlisle's challenge with a commanding Game 4 performance, pushing the Pacers to a 3-1 series lead.

This is Brunson vs. Haliburton just as much as it’s Knicks vs. Pacers — and it has the makings of a good ole-fashioned basketball rivalry.

(AP Photo/Michael Conroy) Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, center, celebrates a defensive play with teammates ... because of what was on the line,” coach Rick Carlisle said.

The Pacers use an 11-man rotation and the Knicks lean harder on their starting lineup than any other team. The Pacers hope that works in their favor.

The Eastern Conference’s No. 3 seed, the New York Knicks (51-31), will take on the No. 4-seed Indiana Pacers (50-32) in the Eastern Conference finals, the third round of the 2025 NBA playoffs. It’s a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference semifinals, which the Pacers won in seven games.

With this being the ninth playoff meeting between the rivals, we ranked the first eight matchups -- filled with head-butts, celebrity run-ins, classic comebacks, series-changing injuries, phantom four-point plays and iconic blocks -- before examining what could make this year's series a worthy next chapter.

Tyrese Haliburton helped the Pacers rally from a 17-point deficit to stun the Knicks in overtime in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.