The New York Knicks, who haven’t reached the NBA Finals since 1999, fell short once again, dropping back-to-back games to the Indiana Pacers when a championship opportunity seemed within grasp.
How did a team many expected to advance suddenly find themselves watching from home?
The answer might lie in fundamental mismatches that plagued them throughout the series.
Sports radio personality Mike Francesa recently broke down what went wrong for New York during his podcast appearance.
“The bottom line – Knicks had trouble matching up defensively, they had trouble handling the pace that Indiana played at and Indiana hurt them in a variety of ways throughout the series. This series was a winnable series,” Francesa noted.
“They had trouble handling the pace that Indiana played at, and Indiana hurt them in a variety of ways throughout the series.”@MikeFrancesa talks about how the Knicks’ defense was costly in their series against the Pacers 🏀 pic.twitter.com/qWB2IPVDx9
— The Mike Francesa Podcast (@FrancesaPodcast) June 1, 2025
The series was absolutely there for the taking if the Knicks had made better adjustments. Both teams displayed clear strengths, but Indiana possessed that one player New York simply couldn’t contain on the defensive end.
The Knicks struggled defensively throughout and never received the breakthrough performances they needed from their top players.
Coach Tom Thibodeau made a critical decision from game one, choosing to match Indiana’s tempo rather than dictating a slower pace.
This strategy backfired badly. New York ranked 27th in pace during the regular season with 97.64 possessions per 48 minutes, while the Pacers sat seventh at 100.76.
While the Knicks found success pushing tempo against Detroit and Boston, slowing down against Indiana would have been the smarter approach.
New York consistently failed to track Pacers players leaking out in transition, whether after turnovers, missed shots, or inbound plays.
Thibodeau missed opportunities to adjust his strategy and demand players drop back to limit fastbreak opportunities.
The numbers tell the story. Indiana outscored New York in fastbreak points every single game, totaling 106 fastbreak points across six games compared to just 48 for the Knicks.
