Knicks' Season Ends in Indiana

New York heads into the summer with far more questions than answers...

Final Score: Knicks 108 - Pacers 125
Series: 4-2

The New York Knicks have fallen short of the ultimate prize every year I've been alive. However, on the morning after the 2024-25 campaign concluded in bitterly disappointing fashion, the Knickerbockers' future is brighter today, and they are closer to legit title contention than at any similar such point since Patrick Ewing's prime in the 1990s.

Now, that doesn't excuse pissing away an absolute golden opportunity to advance to the NBA Finals, but that's the reality of the situation. The Knicks will enter next season as one of the odds-on favorites to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy.

Yet, that fact makes New York's loss to the Pacers sting that much more.

And make no mistake, the Knicks and their fans should feel devastated. An incredibly elusive trip to the Promised Land was within reach.

Nearly everything had lined up perfectly for New York. First and foremost, they avoided the injury bug for the vast majority of the regular season. They entered the playoffs fully healthy and playing some of their best basketball.

The same could not be said for several other contenders in the Eastern Conference. Bucks' star point guard Damian Lillard was sidelined by a blood clot in his calf before eventually tearing his Achilles in Milwaukee's first-round defeat to Indiana. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers, one of the NBA's preseason favorites, saw their season go up in smoke before Thanksgiving. And the Miami HEAT dealt with Jimmy Butler drama before being forced to trade him away in February and never recovered.

The Cleveland Cavaliers won 64 games and were dominant during the 24-25 regular season but were nicked up and eventually imploded in a second-round loss to the Pacers. The Celtics finished with the second-best record in the East, but the Knicks snatched the first two games in Boston and another at MSG before Jayson Tatum went down.

Thus, New York could taste a trip to the Finals two weeks ago. Indiana is an undeniably talented and well-coached club, but the Knicks entered the ECF as the prohibitive favorite.

And with 6:30 left in the fourth quarter of Game 1, NY led by 17 points. When Jalen Brunson hit a step-back three-pointer at the 2:51 mark, New York was up 119-105.

With 58 seconds remaining in regulation, Brunson cashed in a layup to put the Knicks up nine.

Since the NBA began tracking such data, no NBA team had ever blown a nine-point lead in the final minute of a playoff game. A total of 1,414 teams had been in that situation. All 1,414 had gone on to win the game. Until that fateful night inside MSG.

As the clock was ticking down in the fourth quarter last night, before NY's season struck midnight, plenty of fans were thinking about those sixty seconds and those Aaron Nesmith three-pointers and Tyrese Haliburton's prayer scraping the Garden rafters before being answered.

This series will ultimately be remembered for that fourth-quarter collapse. For Knicks fans, especially a new generation that had never before experienced the heartache of a gut-wrenching playoff defeat, this will hurt for a LONG time. It takes a rightful place next to the "Charles Smith Game," and "PJ Brown Flipping Charlie Ward," and "8 points in 8.9 seconds," and "The Finger Roll" in the Knicks' "What If" pantheon of pain.

In a competitive matchup featuring two relatively comparable clubs, you can't afford to give away a precious victory. In effect, it forces you to win five games, not four, to advance.

After peeling themselves off the canvas, the Knicks dropped Game 2 as well. They bounced back in Game 3 and extended the series by taking Game 5, but the season died inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse last night.

Credit to Indiana. Pascal Siakam, who won the Larry Bird Trophy as the Eastern Conference finals MVP, was consistently excellent. Haliburton sputtered in brief stretches, but he was the powerful engine that drove the Pacers' offense to four impressive wins. The rest of their role players and reserves stepped up in big spots when necessary.

As for New York, they head into the summer with far more questions than answers.

It'll be a fascinating offseason for the Knicks, and we'll break it all down right here in the weeks and months ahead, discussing and debating how the franchise should position itself going forward.

Yet, let me first thank each and every one of you who are reading this. I am so thankful, appreciative and grateful that you chose to be a part of this journey. The 2024-25 season was an incredible ride, and I love that our community got to experience it together. It means the world to me.

Thank You!!

Other Takeaways and Knicks Notes:

🏀 Shockingly, Jalen Brunson played poorly in Game 6, finishing with 19 points on 18 FG attempts, two rebounds, seven assists and three turnovers.

One of the biggest factors in NY's loss last night, and throughout the series, was their inability to take care of the basketball. The Pacers scored 34 points off 17 Knicks turnovers in Game 6. It's very difficult to beat quality teams when you give them that many easy buckets.

Brunson was a primary culprit. JB committed at least three turnovers in every contest and averaged 4.0 TOs per game for the series.