Knicks and Pacers Renew Rivalry in East Semis
East Semifinals Have Pacers vs Knicks Lines For New York

The New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers are headed to the NBA’s Elite Eight. The Knicks and Pacers will play in one of the two Eastern Conference semifinals after winning their first-round series matchups. Because New York is the No. 2 seed, they’ll have a home-court advantage and one more home game in the series, if necessary.
The Knicks held their own against the Philadelphia 76ers despite being underdogs when the series prices first opened up. On the other hand, the Pacers lucked out with Giannis Antetokounmpo injured but probably still would’ve held their own offensively, even if Giannis was available.
Indiana played tremendously on the offensive end at home. Thanks to one road victory earlier in the series, the Pacers avoided having to play a Game 7 in Milwaukee. They won in six games.
The first game in this series will take place on Monday in Madison Square Garden. The Knicks are currently -285 to win the series, with the Pacers at +240.
Meanwhile, lines are also out for Game 1 on Monday. The Knicks are listed as 6.5-point favorites at home, with the total at 216. Check out the Pacers vs Knicks Lines for the Eastern Conference Semifinals series below.
Pacers vs Knicks 
Records: Pacers (51-38), New York Knicks (54-34)
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Day/Time:
Streaming: TNT
Pacers vs Knicks Lines & Trends
Over the last ten games, the Knicks have defeated the Pacers in six of the ten. Meanwhile, the Knicks have also won against the spread in six of ten games, while the over and onder have each hit five times in that span.
The Knicks and Pacers played three regular-season games this year. Indiana won two of them despite playing on the road in two of them.
Ironically, after looking through the NBA odds, the favorite won each regular season game outright.
Indiana’s Depth Is Key
The teams that lack depth aren’t moving on to the next round of the playoffs. The Pacers knocked off the Bucks in Game 6, scoring 50 bench points. The Bucks added just ten points from the bench in Game 6. No wonder why the Pacers won by 22.
Other teams, such as the Suns and Lakers, also missed the next round of the playoffs due to a lack of depth off the bench.
However, in Game 6, Indiana watched Obi Toppin score a team-high 21 points in 24 minutes off the bench. T.J. McConnell scored 20 points in 23 minutes off the bench. McConnell also added nine assists, while Toppin brought down eight rebounds.
When the rotation can be expanded, winning games is much easier.
Josh Hart’s The X-Factor
Nobody expected Josh Hart to be a major offensive factor in the NBA playoffs. However, Hart was second on the Knicks in scoring in the first round of the playoffs, adding 16.8 points per game to go along with 12.3 rebounds per night.
Hart also played a team-high 46.3 minutes per night, ultimately playing full games each time out on the court.
Hart made the game-clinching three-point shot with 25.1 seconds to go to give the Knicks a three-point lead. They never looked back after that. Head coach Tom Thibodeau said that Hart has put a lot of time into his shooting and that he has many intangibles that make the team good.
Hart will play a major factor when breaking down the Pacers vs Knicks lines for this series.
Go, New York, Go!
The Knicks have proved that they can stick around offensively. The Knicks finished Game 6 against the 76ers with 131.1 points per 100 possessions after adding 38.9% of offensive rebounds and just 10% of turnovers.
While the Knicks haven’t shot the ball at an elite level in the playoffs, the Knicks continue to have major success on the offensive glass and keep adding more possessions that way.
Meanwhile, Jalen Brunson has done a great job of baiting for fouls. The Knicks’ first two home games were the two games in which they got to the foul line the most. With home-court advantage, the Knicks have an edge in that sense.
Meanwhile, the defense has been up-and-down. In Game 6, the Knicks allowed 127.8 points per 100 possessions to the 76ers on the road. However, the Knicks still won despite allowing 38.3% of offensive rebounds on the other end. They also gave up a 25.6% free-throw rate and a 54.1% effective field goal percentage.
According to the analytics, the Knicks only had one elite defensive game. That was the 97-92 Game 4 win in Philadelphia, in which the Knicks held the 76ers to a 40.9% effective field goal percentage.
Ultimately, the Knicks won’t have to worry about Indiana getting to the foul line much. The Pacers’ highest free-throw rate was 17.1 against the Bucks, but the Pacers had three games against Milwaukee with just a 10.5 free-throw rate or worse. Therefore, Indiana must make shots consistently, especially knowing the Knicks have been better rebounders overall.
For example, the Pacers allowed at least 33.3% of offensive rebounds per game in the final two against the Bucks. Meanwhile, Indiana had just one game with over 28% of offensive rebounds against the Bucks.
Still, the Pacers shot an effective field goal percentage that reached at least 62.3% in three of the six games. The Pacers can beat you by scoring the basketball. But things could get ugly quickly if Indiana has an off night from the field. The Knicks can win games in more ways, including on the glass, by getting to the foul line more and playing better defense overall.
Indiana’s defense hasn’t been good at all this season. The offense has carried them. It’ll likely be hard for the offense to carry them through a Knicks team with one of the better defenses in the NBA.
The Knicks beat the Pacers in the NBA Eastern Conference standings. That said, we’d recommend backing the Knicks for Game 1 of the series. At -6.5 on the spread, the Knicks will be included in our free NBA picks.
Pacers vs Knicks Odds
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