NBA
Report: Knicks 2024-25 Home Opener Leaked
The NBA is apparently wasting no time in penning a sequel to the most recent tilt between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers.
Per Fred Katz of The Athletic, the Knicks’ 2024-25 home opener will come against the Indiana Pacers, the team that ended their prior campaign in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. That contest comes three days after the Knicks are set to open the year against the defending champions in Boston.
The reported home opener is yet another test for a Knicks team that’s presumably set to be at full strength after last year ended with a barrage of injuries. Those ailments marred an otherwise sterling season, one that saw the Knicks win 50 games and the second seed on the Eastern Conference playoff bracket.
Indiana took full advantage of the absent Knicks, taking the second round matchup in seven games. The finale was a 130-109 shellacking at MSG, one that saw Tyrese Haliburton score 26 points, leading the way among six Pacers that reached double-figures. Indiana shot an NBA playoff-record 67.1 percent from the floor en route to victory. Jalen Brunson missed the final stages with a hand injury while OG Anunoby departed after the opening minutes.
Last year’s showdown was the eighth postseaon getogether between the Knicks and Pacers, as Indiana increased its lead in the lasting Eastern rivalry to 5-3. Dealing with injuries of their own, the Pacers dropped the ensuing Eastern Conference Finals series to the eventual NBA champion Boston Celtics.
Indiana also beat the Knicks twice in three regular season showdowns, the lone win coming at MSG on Feb. 1. Jalen Brunson scored 40 points as the Knicks erased a deficit that reached as high as 15 en route to a 109-105 victory. The Pacers mostly run back the same team they posted last year, albeit one that just re-signed former New Yorker Obi Toppin to a four-year, $58 million contract.
The full 2024-25 NBA schedule will be released on Thursday afternoon (3 p.m. ET, ESPN).
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