In many ways, the Eastern Conference finals is a battle of contrasting styles.
The Indiana Pacers love to speed up the game, while the New York Knicks tend to play deliberately. The series will be determined by the team that dictates its style.
The stakes are high. If the Pacers win the series, they would be making their first trip to the NBA Finals since 2000 and would have a chance to win their first Larry O’Brien trophy. New York, meanwhile, would be making its first NBA Finals appearance since 1999, with the chance to win its first title since 1973.
Here are blueprints for how the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks can each win the Eastern Conference finals:
How the Pacers win
Indiana thrives when it sprints out in transition and gets quick — and relatively uncontested — attempts early in the shot clock. It compromises opposing transition defenses and allows Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton to probe through coverages to find open teammates. Whether that results in trailers getting open looks from the perimeter or opportunities to drive and attack the basket, this is how the Pacers like to score. They win if they find a way to crack New York’s transition defense and speed up the game.
Rebounding is another issue for Indiana; the Pacers tied for 27th this season in rebounds per game (41.8) and they can sometimes get overwhelmed on the glass. The interesting thing is that the Pacers, by and large, have managed this deficit by racing out in transition. Case in point: Indiana lost the rebounding battle in the conference semifinals to the Cleveland Cavaliers by a combined margin of -21 and Indiana still won in five games.
How the Knicks win
New York is an extremely cohesive team, one whose starters led the NBA for five-man lineups in minutes played (940), points (2,283), field goals made (868) and attempted (1,718), 3-pointers made (220) and attempted (605), rebounds (815) and assists (574). When the Knicks are playing team basketball and swinging it around, and when All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson is looking to score and feed his teammates, New York is tough to beat.
If the Knicks let the ball stagnate at Brunson or center Karl-Anthony Towns, the entire offense loses its versatility and effectiveness and players become relegated to standing in the corners. Above all else, the Knicks absolutely need to stay committed to whole-team transition defense. While every player will be necessary, this does figure to be a series in which lengthy defensive-minded wings OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges take on a lot of this work.