Pacers Shooting Could Be Problem for Knicks

The Indiana Pacers aren't your typical contender, headlined by a deferential point guard and staffed by a near-10 man rotation while representing a team with zero previous NBA Finals wins, and yet they completely belong in these upcoming Eastern Conference Finals.

The Pacers have carved through their formidable previous matchups as easily as any of the four teams remaining in these NBA playoffs, reaching their second consecutive conference finals appearance behind Tyrese Haliburton's conducting of Indiana's red-hot scoring attack. While the New York Knicks will own home court advantage against their historic rival, it's the Pacers who own the advantage as the last team to end a Knicks title run.

They look to do it again, as they're one of the only teams capable of challenging New York at their own cardio-based game. While the Knicks have built their identity behind their star-studded lineup full of iron men, forged over 82 long regular season games with minimal bench substitutions, the Pacers use the opposite strategy to prioritize fresh legs.

The Indiana rotation runs to nearly double digits on the regular, placing a minimal burden on their starters and regularly deploying bench units who can hold up just as well as any opposing playoff lineup. Aaron Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith might be annoying to deal with on both ends of the floor, but reserves like TJ McConnell and Bennedict Mathurin are all good at maintaining that pressure.

The Milwaukee Bucks found out just how tough the Pacers are to shake, blowing an unimaginable lead in seconds to fall to Haliburton for the second consecutive season. It was an unfortunate lesson the Cavaliers had to learn on their own, suffering their own humiliating loss in Cleveland when they, too, failed to land the kill shot en route to their upset series defeat.