History aside Indiana Pacers NY Knicks reset for Eastern Conference Finals

NEW YORK – The Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks are no strangers to each other in the NBA post-season, given that the former eliminated the latter last season to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Now, a case could be made that this year’s Conference Finals matchup is an unexpected one, given the massive roadblocks that each team faced in the semi-finals.

Fourth-seeded Indiana recorded their second straight five-game series win by dispatching the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, while third-seeded New York upended the defending champions Boston Celtics in six games.

Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers will renew acquaintances against Jalen Brunson and the Knicks on May 21 (May 22, Singapore time) in New York for Game 1 of their best-of-seven series.

Haliburton got the better of the matchup last year and played the role of the hero (or villain, depending on your point of view) in Game 7 at Madison Square Garden.

He punctuated his team’s series victory by wearing a hoodie with an image of Reggie Miller’s infamous 1994 “choke” taunt to Knicks superfan Spike Lee while speaking with reporters after the game.

Haliburton and Brunson would meet up again approximately one month later at Madison Square Garden – this time in a WWE ring. Although the “chance” encounter was scripted and resulted in nothing more than a stare down, it still had New York fans on the edge of their seats.

“It was obviously something that he wanted to do and the way he played last year in the play-offs, I mean, it was fitting,” Brunson said.

“And so, he played well in the Garden. Obviously, Knicks fans and Pacers fans, they go back and forth. But I think he did a great job with it last year, but now we’re moving on.”

Knicks coach Tom