The ghost of a 1990s NBA ball roams the halls of Madison Square Garden. It's an unforgettable and memorable era in the NBA.
Patrick Ewing. John Starks. Latrell Spwellwell. Larry Johnson. Alan Houston. Greg Anthony. Mark Jackson. Reggie Miller. Pat Riley. Jeff Van Gundy. Larry Brown. Larry Bird. Mike Breen also served as the Knicks' radio voice and later provided play-by-play commentary on television. Spike Lee. Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau was a Knicks assistant.
The last Game 7 at The Garden was in 1995 between the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers, and the next game at the Garden will be the same teams on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
Will there be another Game 7 in the 2024 playoffs? Absolutely. To borrow Breen's catchphrase, “Bang!”
That could be possible, as Indiana defeated New York State 116-103 on Friday night in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series.
The Pacers controlled the game and were never in danger of losing. Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Tyrese Haliburton had 15 points, nine assists, six rebounds and two blocks. Indiana shot 53.8 percent from the field and defeated New York 62-38 in the paint.
There's not much more to say about the game. It wasn't the Knicks' night.
The home team won every game in the series, 112-37 in Game 7. However, the Knicks lost at home against the Pacers in 1995 with Miller scoring 29 points. Ewing missed a finger roll with one second left in the fourth quarter. In 1994, the Knicks defeated the Pacers in Game 7 at the Garden to advance to the NBA Finals. There is history between both teams.
The final game of the series features a rich storyline, starting with the Knicks looking to advance to the conference finals for the first time since 2000 and the Pacers looking to advance to the finals for the first time since 2014.
The Knicks are battered, sapped by injuries and missing four rotation players: starters Julius Randle and OG Anunoby, and reserves Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanovic. Josh Hart also has an injury that appears to be an abdominal muscle issue. In Game 6, I grabbed his left side repeatedly.
Thibodeau is a Next Man Up convert. The problem is that he lacks manpower.
“This is what you play for,” Thibodeau said. “You love competition. … Whatever we're facing, we'll get through it. Just keep fighting.”
Star Knicks guard Jalen Brunson continues to improve with back-to-back 30-point games in the playoffs, but he will have an even greater responsibility in Game 7, especially if Hart is less than 100%. . But he also needs help.
The second-seeded Knicks are under more pressure than the sixth-seeded Pacers. That doesn't discount the importance of Indiana coach Rick Carlisle's young, offensive-minded team reaching the conference finals. Haliburton has emerged as an All-NBA level guard, and Siakam appears to be part of Indiana's future. Reaching the Conference Finals, and possibly making the Finals, would be a step forward in the Pacers' development.
A game between the Pacers and Knicks was held at the Garden on a Sunday afternoon in May. Please register. The energy generated by the masses around Penn Station and in Madison Square Garden is a uniquely New York experience, including the ghosts.
