After battling in last season’s Eastern Conference final in May, the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks come into their first matchup of the 2025-26 season in a much different place.
Indiana, which hosts New York on Thursday night in Indianapolis, is 6-20 this season and hasn’t been able to overcome the loss of star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who is out for the season after tearing his right Achilles in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Center Myles Turner also departed in free agency.
The Knicks, on the other hand, are fresh off winning the NBA Cup title against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday and have once again solidified themselves as a real contender to compete for the league title.
Including the 124-113 victory over the Spurs in the NBA Cup final, which doesn’t count toward their overall record, the Knicks have won six consecutive contests and 10 of their last 11.
“It’s a goal of ours that we get to check off,” Knicks star guard Jalen Brunson after the NBA Cup final. “It’s an important stepping stone for us. We can still learn from this game and get better, as well. I’m very thankful for the opportunity we got and how we presented ourselves.”
It remains to be seen if the Knicks will be missing any key players for their meeting against the Pacers. But the depth New York showed in Las Vegas could be what separates this year’s team from the club that lost to Indiana five months ago.
Tyler Kolek made his biggest impact in two NBA seasons, finishing with 14 points, five rebounds and five assists in 20 minutes off the bench on Tuesday. The combination of Brunson (25 points, eight assists) and Kolek played a key role in the Knicks’ win.
Jordan Clarkson’s 15 points, including a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, also played a pivotal role for New York.
“That start of the fourth quarter was amazing by those guys,” New York’s Josh Hart said. “I think we were down five and next thing you know we’re up six or eight or whatever it was. I think being able to go through adverse situations this early in the season is going to pay dividends later.”
The Pacers have dropped two consecutive games and head coach Rick Carlisle was particularly upset following the 108-89 home loss to the Washington Wizards on Sunday. Carlisle called the effort “unacceptable.”
“It was poor,” Carlisle reiterated Tuesday. “It was probably as poorly as we played all year. We’ve had other tough games, but to play like that at home was very disappointing.”
Despite being in the midst of a disappointing season, the Pacers have gotten improvements from guard Andrew Nembhard, who is on pace to finish with career highs in scoring at 17.3 points per game and assists at 6.6.
Two-way player Ethan Thompson has also been a pleasant addition to the starting lineup.
The Pacers’ goal now is to turn those improvements into wins.
“We have great guys working hard,” Carlisle said. “We’ve had some significant improvement defensively. Health wise we’re moving in a good direction. … We’re going to count our blessings, we’re going to remain positive and keep working hard.”
