NBA

Match Preview

Gambling

News

New York Knicks vs Indiana Pacers Preview: Odds, Tips and Prediction

Date: Saturday 31st May 2025 Start time: 9 pm local time (1 am BST) Venue: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana. Last regular season meeting: February 24, 2025, Minnesota Timberwolves 131-128 Oklahoma City Thunder The 2025 NBA Eastern Conference finals see the Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks go head-to-head in a best-of-7 series. Neither organization has won since 1973, but the Knicks are the only side to have won the NBA Championship. The Pacers won three championships before joining the NBA in 1976, yet have no titles in this series. The winner of this series matchup will see them head to the NBA championships and will take on either the Minnesota Timberwolves or the Oklahoma City Thunder. Who will prevail in this series?

Henry Cheal

Sports Writer

Last Updated: 2025-05-29

Fact checked by:

Chad Nagel

Sports & Betting Editor

7 minutes read

SportsBoom offers honest and impartial bookmaker reviews to help you make informed choices. While we may earn commissions through affiliate links, our content remains independent and free from promotional influence. For more information, see our Content Transparency and How We Review pages.

Yrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers attempts a lay up against Karl-Anthony.jpg

Yrese Haliburton and Karl-Anthony/Getty Images

Table of Contents

SportsBoom has all the vitally important details ahead of this matchup, discussing both the Knicks and the Pacers in detail. We will take a look at their recent and historical head-to-head matchups before discussing key players for both franchises. Following this, we will conclude by sharing our value bets before offering our final prediction on which team will progress to the finals.

We have curated a long list of the best NBA betting sites to explore. These sites offer you the best chances of securing significant financial returns if you want to kick-start your betting journey.

Pre-Game Odds and Win Probability:

The Indiana Pacers the clear favourites to win.

New York Knicks: 2/1 (3.00) – 33.3%
Indiana Pacers: 1/2 (1.50) – 66.7%
Forecast odds – Betting available on 1Win closer to event

Head-to-Head Record

198 regular-season matches have come and gone over the years, and this matchup is extremely close when we look at the stats. The New York Knicks hold a minor advantage, winning 102 matches overall. In comparison, the Indiana Pacers have 96 wins, showing that both teams are extremely competitive in this fixture.

Last Five Matches:

Season	Date	Result
2024/25 Season	February 11, 2025	New York Knicks 128-115 Indiana Pacers
2024/25 Season	November 10, 2024	Indiana Pacers 132-121 New York Knicks
2024/25 Season	October 25, 2024	New York Knicks 123-98 Indiana Pacers
2023/24 Season	February 10, 2024	Indiana Pacers 125-11 New York Knicks
2023/24 Season	February 1, 2024	New York Knicks 109-105 Indiana Pacers

How is the season so far for both teams?

New York Knicks

Record	Home Form	Road Form
51-31	37-14	24-17

The New York Knicks ended their regular season campaign as the number three seed with a respectable 51-31 record. The organization made light work of the Detroit Pistons before completing an impressive 4-2 series win against the reigning NBA champions, the Boston Celtics. A championship will mean an awful lot to the fanbase of this fallen giant, considering their immense popularity and prestigious arena.

Point guard Jalen Brunson has been their key vocal point, producing spellbinding numbers and is one of the best playoff players this season. He finished the season with 26 points and 7.3 assists per game, but has raised the bar yet again in the postseason as he is currently averaging 30.4 points and 7.7 assists per game. These numbers prove he’s an indispensable member who can produce impressive performances.

Karl-Anthony Towns continues to show his value thanks to his immense scoring power and ability to dictate possession. He averaged 24.4 points and 12.8 rebounds per game during the regular season, and in the playoffs, he remains a key operator by posting 20.9 points and 11.1 rebounds, further showing why the Knicks deserve to be in the Conference Finals.

Indiana Pacers

Record	Home Form	Road Form
50-32	29-11	20-20

The Indiana Pacers were one of the strongest teams heading into the playoffs, winning eight of their last ten matches in the regular season. As a result, they rose to fourth and almost overtook the Knicks, who occupied the top three seeds all season. The Pacers completed a dominant 4-1 series win over the Milwaukee Bucks before replicating this performance against the number one seed in the East, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

31-year-old Pascal Siakam is a key operator as he has played his first full season in Indiana, averaging a consistent 20.2 points in the regular season and 20.3 points in the postseason. Despite these averages, Siakam is known to produce a blockbuster game, and he will certainly be a key player to try and take the Pacers to the promised land.

Alongside Siakam is Tyrese Haliburton, an equally key component of the Pacers’ starting five. Haliburton averaged 18.6 points and 9.2 assists during the regular season, and while he maintained his output in scoring, he’s raised his game in providing for his team as he is now assisting 9.6 shots per game. Haliburton is arguably their most clutch player when things get tough; therefore, keeping him healthy is essential.

Value Bets

Jalen Brunson: Over 25 Points: Jalen Brunson is such an impressive scorer, but his career averages against the Pacers are below par at 22.6 points per game. Considering this is the playoffs, where he always finds an extra gear, we’ve predicted that he’ll post at least 25 points in this specific game. After all, Brunson’s numbers in the postseason this year have exceeded his regular-season stats.
Tyrese Haliburton: Over 20 Points and Over 10 Assists: Despite averaging slightly below the threshold, we believe Tyrese Haliburton is capable of a double-double performance in points and rebounds for this game. He is one of the best offensive providers in the league, and this high-stakes game could favour him completely. The point guard has made many impressive shots in the dying moments of games, so he will try and keep that momentum going for this series.

Prediction: New York Knicks to win

This is a very difficult match to predict, but SportsBoom concludes that the New York Knicks will win this game. It’s undoubtedly difficult to choose who will win the series, but the Knicks will secure an important win to keep their chances alive of securing a place in the NBA championships once again after such a long time away.

Henry ChealSports Writer

Henry Cheal is a versatile freelance sports journalist with extensive experience in the industry. Henry has previously worked at the 2024 World Snooker Championship and earned a Multimedia Sports Journalism degree from UCFB in 2023.