Latest news with #PacersKnicks
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Indiana Pacers fan, 24, accused of stabbing New York Knicks rivals in furious bar attack during playoff game
An Indiana Pacers fan allegedly stabbed two New York Knicks supporters while watching his team's playoff victory at a bar in Carmel last Friday. According to local news station FOX59, Carmel resident Jarrett Funke, 24, was initially kicked out of a brewery in the Indiana city for harassing the two rival fans in question during Game 2 of Eastern Conference Finals between the Pacers and the Knicks. He is then said to have returned and stabbed one man in the back before attempting to leave. When police arrived, however, another individual was also found with a wound in his leg. Police were initially called to the brewery because of an alleged fight involving Funke, yet when he was kicked out the caller stated that officers no longer needed to respond. Minutes later an employee of the establishment reportedly called them back after Funke had returned to its patio, before stabbing the first Knicks supporter in the back. The two victims allegedly told police that the Pacers rival approached them at the bar and 'smacked' one of their Knicks hats onto the ground. The incident took place during the Pacers' Game 2 victory over the Knicks on Friday night They claim Funke was then taken outside as he shouted 'f*** you, you still have a f***ing problem. Take this outside.' Five minutes later, when they were stood outside on the patio, the Pacers supporter is then said to have 'stormed through the fence' of the brewery and attacked them. One of the victims allegedly told police that he 'briefly displayed a black folding pocket knife to deter (Funke) but repocketed it, as he had no intention of using it.' What began as a verbal altercation then turned into a physical one, with Funke allegedly stabbing both Knicks fans. The latter reportedly told police that they initiated the argument after 'talking s***'. Funke claims one of them pushed him to the ground and 'began punching him in the face'. Documents state that the Indiana native alleges he 'retrieved his pocketknife from his hoodie and swung it around towards (one of the Knicks fans) back with his right hand.' Though according to multiple witnesses, Funke was the 'primary aggressor in this incident.' His initial hearing is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon in Hamilton County. The Pacers took a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference Finals series against the Knicks last Friday, only for New York to reduce the deficit to 2-1 on Monday ahead of a crucial Game 4 on Tuesday night.
Arab News
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Arab News
New York Knicks take on Indiana Pacers in NBA 2025 Eastern Conference finals
DUBAi: Beginning on Wednesday, New York and Indiana will meet in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoffs for a second straight season as they continue to put a modern twist on a classic NBA rivalry. This season, they face each other in the conference final; last year, the Pacers defeated the Knicks in seven games at the semi-final stage, rallying from series deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 along the way. The drama was reminiscent of matchups from a generation ago, when the teams faced each other in the playoffs six times in the space of eight years between 1993 and 2000. During that time Patrick Ewing of the Knicks and Reggie Miller of the Pacers went head-to-head in one thriller after another, helping to define a decade of NBA competition. • Opportunity knocks: The most recent appearances by the teams in the NBA Finals came 26 years ago for New York and 25 years ago for Indiana. In both cases, one of them beat the other in the conference finals: In 1999, the Knicks defeated the Pacers during a historic run to the Finals as No. 8 seeds. The following season, Indiana got the better of New York to reach the championship showdown for the first (and still the only) time in franchise history. The Knicks' appearance in the conference finals this year is their first since that series defeat by the Pacers in 2000. • Marquee matchup: Two-time NBA All-Stars Jalen Brunson of New York and Tyrese Haliburton of Indiana will square off in a battle of ascendant point guards who are at their best in the biggest moments. Brunson's barrage of late-game buckets and Haliburton's pair of game-winning shots have been key features of the 2025 playoffs so far. Both players, who helped jump-start their respective franchises upon arrival a few years ago, are now just a step away from reaching the NBA Finals for the first time. • Winning ways: After a sluggish 10-15 start to the season, the Pacers have been dominant over the past five months, with a 40-17 finish to the regular season, and five-game playoff-series victories over the 2020-21 NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks and the 64-win, top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers. A relentlessly fast-paced offense, much-improved defense and impressive depth have helped Indiana become the first team ranked No. 4 seed or lower to advance to the conference finals in back-to-back seasons under the current playoff format, which has been in place since 1984. With almost the same team rotation as they had last season, under the guidance of championship-winning head coach Rick Carlisle, the Pacers have perfected their distinctive style of play. • Step forward: After back-to-back Eastern Conference semi-finals appearances in the previous two seasons, the Knicks have taken the next step by reaching the finals for the first time in 25 years. They did so with a retooled roster after acquiring Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges, who joined Brunson, O.G. Anunoby and Josh Hart in a superb starting lineup. A 4-2 series victory over defending NBA champions the Boston Celtics in the semi-finals has given New York a chance to avenge last season's playoff defeat by Indiana. • Snappy comebacks: Both Indiana and New York have shown strong resolve this season by repeatedly erasing big deficits to win playoff games. In the first two rounds, the Pacers won three games in which they trailed by 19 points or more, making them the first team to record at least three 19-point playoff comebacks in a single season since 1998. The Knicks, meanwhile, rallied from a 20-point deficit in each of their first two games against the Celtics, and a 14-point deficit on the way to another victory. Clearly, no lead is safe against these two resilient teams. • Halfway home: Eight more victories would give the Pacers their first-ever NBA championship appearance, and the Knicks their first in 52 years. Indiana won three ABA championships before joining the NBA in 1976. New York claimed their two NBA championships in 1970 and 1973. • Friendly foes: The head-to-head matchup between Pascal Siakam of Indiana and New York's Anunoby, standout forwards and former longtime teammates, could go a long way in determining the series winner. The two spent seven seasons together with the Toronto Raptors, helped the franchise win the 2019 NBA championship before both were traded in the middle of last season. Siakam earned his third NBA All-Star selection this season, and Anunoby has had his best scoring season to complement his stellar defense. • Talk of the Towns: In back-to-back seasons, Karl-Anthony Towns has helped two franchises end decades-long droughts without a conference finals appearance: the Minnesota Timberwolves last season (for the first time in 20 years) and the Knicks this season. With his first NBA Finals in sight, the five-time NBA All-Star will take on another highly skilled big man, Indiana's Myles Turner, who is also eyeing his first NBA Finals appearance as he completes his 10th season with the Pacers.
Associated Press
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Knicks and Pacers set for Round 9 in their playoff rivalry, with the winner going to the NBA Finals
GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — Jalen Brunson held a steel chair. Tyrese Haliburton had brass knuckles. As the star point guards glared at each other in a WWE wrestling ring last summer in Madison Square Garden, it seemed a fitting next step in the rivalry between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks. It's already featured headbutts and chokes, so why not weapons? The teams go at it again starting Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Knicks' first trip to the Eastern Conference finals in 25 years, with the winner of their ninth playoff matchup headed to the NBA Finals. 'It's obviously a storied rivalry between the two franchises, so to add another chapter to it is going to be a lot of fun,' Haliburton said. It sure was for Haliburton and the Pacers last year when the teams met in the second round. Indiana won Game 7 at Madison Square Garden against a Knicks team that was decimated by injuries, shooting an NBA playoff-record 67.1% from the field in a 130-109 romp. Haliburton scored 26 points and afterward wore a sweatshirt to his news conference with a picture of Reggie Miller making a choke signal toward Knicks fan Spike Lee on the sidelines during a playoff game three decades earlier. Haliburton returned to the Garden to troll New York fans again about a month later, attempting to interfere in a match on behalf of Logan Paul. Brunson, with a seat in the crowd near the ring, intervened and LA Knight pinned Paul. After the match, Brunson grabbed the chair and entered the ring to protect the winner when it appeared Paul and Haliburton had him surrounded. 'I'll be back! I'll be back!' Haliburton yelled toward fans after exiting the ring. Well, here he comes. 'It was obviously something that he wanted to do and the way he played last year in the playoffs, I mean, it was fitting,' Brunson said. 'And so, he played well in the Garden. Obviously Knicks fans and Pacers fans, they go back and forth. But I think he did a great job with it last year but now we're moving on.' A Knicks-Pacers series could be penciled into the spring schedule in the 1990s. The teams met six times in an eight-year span, starting with a 1993 series that included John Starks getting ejected for head-butting Miller. Indiana won the last one in that stretch, a victory in the 2000 East finals the most recent time the Knicks advanced this far. This time, it's a surprise. Cleveland and Boston ran away to the top two records in the East, but the Knicks ousted the defending champions and the Pacers blew away the top-seeded Cavaliers in five games to set up this matchup between the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds. Things are different now. Brunson and Haliburton are friendly, having been teammates in 2023 on the U.S. team that played in the Basketball World Cup. But Miller will be in the arena, working the games as an analyst for TNT, so there will be a reminder of the way Knicks-Pacers used to be. 'There was definitely a sense of hatred for each other. So I think that makes a good rivalry,' Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns said. 'They have a history of finding a way to end each other's season, so it's up to us now to add our names into history and see what we do.' The postseason history The Pacers lead the series 5-3. When the teams have met in the East finals, the Knicks won in 1994 and 1999 — when they reached the NBA Finals as a No. 8 seed — and the Pacers won in 2000. The 2024-25 history The Knicks went 2-1 against the Pacers, with all the meetings before the All-Star break. Towns had 30.3 points and 12 rebounds per game for the Knicks, who averaged 124 points on 53.9% shooting. A torrid Pace The Pacers were just 10-15 after a loss to Charlotte on Dec. 8. Counting the playoffs, they are 48-19 since. A June reunion? An NBA Finals matchup between the Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves is a possibility after they made a blockbuster trade on the eve of the preseason. The Knicks acquired Towns by sending Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to Minnesota. Towns, the Wolves' No. 1 pick in 2015, isn't thinking about that yet. 'We've got to get there first,' he said. 'I ain't going to worry about something that we're not there yet. Step by step.' ___ AP Sports Writer Michael Marot in Indianapolis contributed to this report. ___ AP NBA:
