Despite all the reasons for doom and gloom, the Knicks should not panic. There was a list of positives to build on ahead of Game 2 on Friday night.
First, is how efficient the team’s offense was for the majority of Wednesday night. New York’s offense scored 126.2 points per 100 possessions in Game 1 -- a figure that would lead the league in the regular season.
The Pacers don’t switch heavily on the pick-and-roll and their perimeter defenders try to go over every screen. It fits the way they want to play, which is fast and aggressive. But it also allowed New York’s stars Jalen Brunson andKarl-Anthony Towns to cook. The duo combined for an efficient 78 points. Brunson and Towns also were able to regularly march to the charity stripe as they combined for 25 free-throw attempts.
Towns is a different player when guarded by a center. Except for a few attempts to have wing Aaron Nesmith or Pascal Siakam defend him, Pacers big men Myles Turner and Thomas Bryant were assigned to Towns for much of the night.
Towns thrived from deep, knocking down four three-pointers. Against the Celtics, he made just three trifectas in six games. Brunson was able to get to his spots and had advantages offensively. With 43 points on over 50 percent shooting, it was probably one of the easier offensive nights he will have.
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) celebrates a three point shot against the Indiana Pacers in the second quarter during game one of the eastern conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Mitchell Robinson and Miles McBride both were solid off the bench. As I hinted at before the series, Robinson is the Knicks’ X-factor. He had eight rebounds in 21 minutes, with four boards coming on the offensive end.
The Knicks could look at more minutes of Towns and Robinson together. The two centers on the floor at the same time has been positive. In 97 minutes during the postseason, Towns and Robinson have outscored opponents by 13.0 points per 100 possessions, per NBA Stats. In Game 1, they were a plus-seven.
It’s not all roses
Even with the positives, it would be hard to ignore the concerns. The Knicks gave up 138 points. Tyrese Haliburton was comfortable and got downhill several times. There were also too many times the point guard found himself wide open for three.
The Knicks also failed to contain Nesmith, who hit six three-pointers in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter. All of the shots were wide open, which sparked Indiana’s comeback.
The main culprit for those mistakes was New York’s inconsistent approach to defending screens. As the game wore on, New York’s players seemed unsure if they were switching or fighting through off-ball screens.
Indiana is a relentless team. Led by Haliburton, they thrive off the pass and man movement. If New York is going to defend better, the team has to be more crisp and communicate better.
Even more of a concern is the continued struggles of New York’s starting lineup. The five man unit has logged a league-high in minutes together and has a negative 8.0 net rating in 292 playoff minutes. They were a negative 16 in the Conference Finals opener. Head coach Tom Thibodeau could make lineup or strategic adjustments.
The loss stings, but there was some good the Knicks can take from it. If the team continues to produce offensively and makes defensive adjustments, they can even this series.
Let’s start with the obvious: The Boston Celtics almost certainly aren’t trading for Cooper Flagg.
But their work at the 2025 NBA Scouting Combine in Chicago — which reportedly included interviewing the Duke star and projected No. 1 pick — might provide some insight into how they’re approaching the 2025 NBA Draft.
Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor reported last week that Boston conducted interviews with both Flagg and Texas guard Tre Johnson (a projected top-five draft pick) at the Draft Combine. On a recent episode of NBC Sports Boston’s Arbella Early Edition, O’Connor confirmed the Celtics also spoke to Georgia forward Asa Newell, who projects as a top-15, late-lottery selection.
The C’s currently have picks No. 28 and 32 in the 2025 NBA Draft. So, why are they speaking with players who are seemingly out of their range? O’Connor shared his insight on Early Edition.
“You rank the guys you want to talk to,” O’Connor said. “The way it works at the Draft Combine in Chicago is, you rank the players you want to talk to, and the teams that have the players ranked the highest get the opportunity to talk to those guys.
“Each prospect can talk to up to 13 teams, so the Celtics may have had Cooper Flagg ranked second or third in their rankings of prospects. So, it’s not the biggest deal in the world they got to talk to him. But I do think it’s interesting they talked to at least three guys who could be drafted in the lottery.
“They talked to Cooper Flagg, likely No. 1, they talked to Tre Johnson, likely a top-five pick out of Texas, and then Asa Newell, a big man out of Georgia, a late-lottery pick, mid-first-round draft pick. So, they talked to at least three guys in theory they’d have interest in.
“You’re not going to talk to somebody if you don’t like the player.”
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens downplayed Boston’s reported interview with Flagg earlier this week, explaining that the team’s goal with these interviews is to gather general intel on players who normally wouldn’t come to Boston for in-person workouts with the team.
“The people we know who we can’t get in to work out is how we decide who we want to talk to. Otherwise, we may never get to talk to them again,” Stevens told reporters Monday. “So, the only people that come and work out for us are the people that think they’re in a range or bottom of our range, or whatever the case may be.”
Stevens also downplayed the possibility of “fireworks” in the form of a trade up on draft night, and Boston would have to give up a massive haul to jump from No. 28 into the top five. A move into the 13-15 range might be more feasible, however, especially if the Celtics see potential in a player like Newell.
At 6-foot-10 and 225 pounds, the Georgia product is an athletic big man who averaged 15.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game as a freshman last season. With Al Horford and Luke Kornet set to be free agents and Kristaps Porzingis a potential trade target, Boston could use frontcourt reinforcements, and the 19-year-old Newell has plenty of upside.
The Celtics may not want to part with the assets required to trade up in the draft, and they’ve had success near the end of the first round before (Robert Williams at No. 27; Payton Pritchard at No. 26). But if they’re serious about shedding salary to get under the second apron of the luxury tax, they’ll need to hit on draft picks, which could make it worthwhile to move up the 2025 draft board.
It’s Friday, May 23, and the Indiana Pacers (50-32) and New York Knicks (51-31) are all set to square off from Madison Square Garden in New York for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Indiana rallied from down 14 points with 3:44 remaining and down 8 points with 1:20 to force OT and shockingly win Game 1, 138-135. Game 1 became an instant classic and Tyrese Haliburton left his mark on the game with an OT-forcing two-point shot that was inches away from a three, while Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns could not put the Knicks ahead late in OT.
The Pacers are currently 20-20 on the road with a point differential of 2, while the Knicks have a 6-4 record in their last ten games at home.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on how to catch tipoff, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
Listen to the Rotoworld Basketball Show for the latest fantasy player news, waiver claims, roster advice and more from our experts all season long. Click here or download it wherever you get your podcasts.
Game details & how to watch Pacers vs. Knicks live today
Date: Friday, May 23, 2025
Time: 8:00 PM EST
Site: Madison Square Garden
City: New York, NY
Network/Streaming: TNT / truTV / Max
Never miss a second of the action and stay up to date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day NBA schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game.
Game odds for Pacers vs. Knicks
The latest odds as of Friday:
Odds: Pacers (+202), Knicks (-247)
Spread: Knicks -5.5
Over/Under: 225 points
That gives the Pacers an implied team point total of 111.59, and the Knicks 114.46.
Want to know which sportsbook is offering the best lines for every game on the NBA calendar? Check out the NBC Sports’ Live Odds tool to get all the latest updated info from DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM & more!
Expert picks & predictions for Friday’s Pacers vs. Knicks game
NBC Sports Bet Best Bet Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports) likes the Knicks to get even in Game 2:
"Judging by how Game 1 went, you may get better live in-game value betting the Knicks ML, but this is a New York or pass spot for me. The Knicks, in their minds, can't go back to Indiana down 0-2 with that choke of an effort in Game 1. I could only look toward the Knicks ML or spread."
Please bet responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700.
Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the NBA calendar based on data points like recent performance, head-to-head player matchups, trends information and projected game totals.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projections next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for today’s Pacers & Knicks game:
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the New York Knicks on the Moneyline.
Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Indiana Pacers at +5.5.
Total: NBC Sports Bet is staying away from a play on the Game Total of 225.
Want even more NBA best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert NBA Predictions pagefrom NBC Sports for money line, spread and over/under picks for every game on today’s calendar!
Important stats, trends & insights to know ahead of Pacers vs. Knicks on Friday
In 2 wins against the Pacers this season the Knicks' average winning margin is +19
5 of the Pacers' last 6 matchups with the Knicks have gone over the Total
The Pacers have covered in 5 straight games as a road underdog
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our NBA Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Follow our experts on socials to keep up with all the latest content from the staff:
- Jay Croucher (@croucherJD) - Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper) - Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports) - Brad Thomas (@MrBradThomas)
A few hours after he finished calling Game 1 of Knicks-Pacers, TNT’s Stan Van Gundy woke up in his New York hotel room and re-watched the tape.
“I really was going back over every play because my impression coming out of it was that the Knicks’ defense was just soft and they had way too many mistakes and breakdowns. And when I watched it again, it was even clearer,” Van Gundy, the longtime TNT analyst, said.
Does Van Gundy think the Knicks will let the loss impact them in Game 2?
“They’ll look at the mistakes and pick themselves (up) and get ready to go. I don’t think (Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau) has to worry about (hangover from Wednesday’s loss) at this time of year,” Van Gundy said. “Their pick and roll defense to me, early on in the game, (Karl-Anthony) Towns was really back. (Myles) Turner was just getting wide-open shots. And then they had some miscommunications on perimeter screens; small-small (screens). Are we switching or not? They had breakdowns there. And then late in the game, they were really soft on their switches and (Aaron) Nesmith was hitting threes. To me, they’ve got to clean up their pick-and-roll coverages, being up and more aggressive. And their communication’s got to be a lot better on what they’re doing.
“….There was not a hard three in that stretch (of Nesmith’s six threes late in the fourth quarter). It’s still hard to make six straight threes. But it wasn’t like the shot-clock ran down and someone had to throw one in. He got great looks. Nesmith, all five of his looks were great looks. And the one (Tyrese) Haliburton got, (Mikal) Bridges gave him a lot of space on that one, too. They got really good shots. I just thought the Knicks' defense in that stretch was very soft. And in the overtime, they had breakdowns on (Obi) Toppin’s dunk and (Andrew) Nembhard’s back cut. They just, defensively, didn’t get the job done.”
Van Gundy spent about an hour talking Knicks-Pacers with a small group of reporters on Thursday. He shared his thoughts on several other topics...
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) controls the ball against Indiana Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith (23) in the third quarter during game one of the eastern conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
HALIBURTON VS BRUNSON
"(Haliburton) and Brunson are both great players, but their style of play is so different because Haliburton is a quick-decision, get-off-the-ball type of guy and Brunson’s a very ball-dominant guard. So if you look on – I think they chart seconds per touch. Every time I touch the ball, how long do I hold it? Haliburton holds it on the average about 2.5 seconds less than Brunson.
"Brunson holds it the most in the league. Over six seconds per touch. Haliburton is about 3.5 seconds per touch. (Van Gundy points out that Brunson averages three more dribbles per touch than Haliburton). It’s just a difference that sets up the whole style of play. The Knicks being a little more methodical. Brunson, the best comparison to him is probably (James) Harden. Dribble, dribble, dribble - not selfish because he’ll certainly give the ball to other people. But he’s going to keep it in his hands whereas Haliburton gets off of it, let’s other people play and the whole thing….Two great players with different styles.”
OBI TOPPIN’S DUNK ON A PICK AND ROLL TO SEAL INDIANA’S WIN IN OT
"That was really weird defense to me. First of all, they inbounded the ball really easily. Teams have trouble inbounding the ball. You saw the Knicks almost turn it over (earlier in the game). Teams have a lot of trouble inbounding and the Knicks just let them do it. They really didn’t do anything.
"And then on the pick and roll, I don’t really know what they wanted to be in because to me, Mitchell Robinson wasn’t up, he wasn’t really affecting Nembhard at all. But yet he let Toppin roll behind him….
"Those are all very preventable (mistakes) in my opinion and I’m sure in Thibs’ opinion too. Those are all preventable things that are just defensive mistakes and you can’t make that many of them in a game, especially against a team like Indiana.”
Indiana Pacers forward Obi Toppin (1) reacts in the second half against the New York Knicks during game one of the eastern conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden / Wendell Cruz - Imagn Images
PACERS WEARING DOWN BRUNSON
“Indiana’s been a good ball-pressure team. What they try to do – I think Indiana’s plan against New York both within a game and over the course of a series – is they just really want to wear them down. They feel like they’ve got more depth. They play more guys. Their pace and their pressure. The Knicks are gonna face full-court pressure for 48 minutes – 53 minutes (in Game 1) – and we’re just gonna wear on them. And I feel like they think they were able to do that last year in a seven-game series, particularly on Brunson.
"He’s gonna be good, but we’re just gonna wear on him. They don’t blitz him a lot and make him get off the ball like some teams do because, number one, you open yourself up to three-point shooting and to offensive rebounding by other teams. But I also think they want Brunson to keep probing on the dribble and make plays. Obviously (43) points (in Game 1). But I think they feel like, ‘Hey, we’re wearing on them.’ I think that’s what their defense is designed to do. They gave up 62 paint points to New York (in Game 1). They’re so extended and spread out. Forty free throw attempts. So you’re able to attack them, but again, I think it’s calculated on their part to wear you down.”
“I’ll stand by that. The Knicks fans are great fans, but if things are going bad… I’ve been in all these arenas (and if) things are going bad in Indiana, the Indiana fans are going to try to rally their team back. The Knicks fans are going to boo their team. If that 14-0 run had been the other way early in the fourth quarter and the Knicks went down 16, they’re getting booed. That’s just the way it is. That’s all I was talking about. Knicks fans are great, they’re passionate, they’re enjoying this moment so more power to them. My front-runner comment was just that. When things are going bad they’re not trying to rally everybody, they’re gonna pound you.”
REFS MISSED GOALTEND ON PACERS IN OVERTIME
“It was a goaltend and that was huge. That was huge because – four-point lead, you get the steal, you’re coming down on the break, they call a goaltend, it’s six. Instead, the ball stays in play in transition and Nembhard hits the corner three from Haliburton. That was a huge, huge play in the game on a missed goaltend. Usually, what we’ve seen in the playoffs, on those that are really close on the goaltend, they make the call so then they can take a look at it. But they didn’t make the call, so they couldn’t take a look at it. But on the replay, it got the board first. It should have been (a goaltend).”
May 21, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) defends against Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam (43) in the fourth quarter during game one of the eastern conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
LEON ROSE’S ROSTER
“Leon’s done a tremendous job here putting this roster together. You think back, for the value of the contract, has there been – ever – a better free-agent signing than Jalen Brunson…. Shaq to LA? Well, ok. But that’s a max contract. You think Brunson and I mean, a lot of people, even when he got what he got, thought he was overpaid. And he wasn’t getting a max. And now he’s – I think everybody recognizes – one of the best players in the league…. Those (trades for Towns and Bridges) haven’t all been met with great enthusiasm by fans and New York media all of the time. But they’ve proven themselves pretty darn good. They put together a heckuva roster right here. With a chance (to win).”
REGGIE MILLER CALLING GAMES AT MSG AND CALLING THE SERIES FOR TNT
“For us, it's fabulous. For TV, it’s fabulous. If you think about this, it's going to be the last series we’re going to do on TNT and we get Knicks-Pacers in the conference finals with Reggie Miller? That’s storybook stuff … the only thing missing from Game 1, quite honestly, was Spike (Lee). I think it’s great theater having Reggie there. Some of the fans were yelling at him. Most of it good good-natured. Some of it not so much, to be quite honest. Reggie handles it all really well. And for us it’s just a great, great storyline.”
Anthony Edwards was much more himself attacking downhill, he shot 8-of-12 in the paint on his way to 32 points for the night. In the first half, Minnesota's bench was 7-of-12 for 19 points, and as a team the Wolves hit nine 3-pointers before the break. Minnesota looked much improved, yet at the half the Timberwolves still had a 106.4 offensive rating (10 points below their season average) and trailed by 8.
Then in the third quarter the Thunder took control. Just like in Game 1. Their pressure defense forced five Timberwolves turnovers, OKC got 12 points off those and went on a 19-6 run, and by the end of three, Minnesota was down 22 and trying to play catch-up.
" I just wanted to foul him for real. I wasn't even mad I just had fouls to use," Jade McDaniels said of the foul, which was ruled a Flagrant 1.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looked every bit the MVP with 38 points and eight assists and Oklahoma City held on for the 118-103 win.
Oklahoma City now has a 2-0 series lead, with Game 3 Saturday night in Minnesota.
Gilgeous-Alexander's 38 points was his fifth straight game with 30+ points these playoffs, becoming the only Thunder player to accomplish that (which is impressive and maybe a little surprising considering the Thunder's history and who came through there).
From the opening tip, Minnesota's plan of attack was clear: Attack the rim to try and open things up, get 3-point attempts on kick outs (not settling for them as happened in Game 1). On those 3s the Timberwolves were 5-of-10 in the first quarter, keeping the game tight, despite shooting 3-of-14 inside the arc to open the game. The Timberwolves' ball movement was better. OKC starting the game 1-of-8 from 3 in the first quarter helped.
Things changed in the second half of the third quarter when Oklahoma City figured out the Minnesota zone, forced turnovers and went on the run that changed the game.
Jalen Williams finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Chet Holmgren added 22 points for OKC.
JDUB & CHET HELP SURGE the THUNDER to a 2-0 SERIES LEAD ⛈️
McDaniels finished with 22 points, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker had a strong game with 17 points off the bench.
Through two games, the Thunder have looked much the better team. Minnesota needs to find a way to flip that in 48 hours, or this series will be all but over.
"He had three games to change something, and I think he changed the energy. I think the guys were woken up a little bit. The guys had more energy. He made us believe in something, and we played good, you know? We played a seven-game series with probably the best team in the NBA, and we had opportunity. We had chances. So I think he did a really good job."
That was Nikola Jokic praising the job David Adelman did as the interim coach of the Denver Nuggets, a sentiment echoed by other veterans such as Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray, with many of them saying they hoped he got the job full-time. You can guess what comes next.
"We're going to move forward with David Adelman as our head coach," Josh Kroenke, the Nuggets vice chairman and interim president of basketball operations (after Calvin Booth was fired), said to open his end-of-season press conference. The two sides have agreed to terms.
Kronke said he originally planned to start looking outside the organization for the next head coach, but as he watched how the team bonded and played through the postseason, he realized he had the guy he wanted already in house.
Adelman was thrust into a difficult position, becoming head coach with three games left in the season when Kroenke fired coach Michael Malone and Booth, a duo that had been feuding for years, casting a cloud over the organization. Kroenke hoped the firing would jolt the team out of its slump and it seemed to as they went 3-0 in the rest of the regular season, then in the playoffs beat the Clippers in seven tough games, then pushed the Thunder seven games before falling short.
Adelman held his own in tactical adjustments with two of the better Xs and Os coaches in the league in Tyronn Lue and Mark Daigneault. He also won over the players, as they told Bennett Durando at the Denver Post.
"I love DA," Aaron Gordon said. "I hope he's here next year. I hope he's our coach. I hope he gets an entire training camp and a whole offseason."
"I'm hoping he gets that job," added Michael Porter Jr. "I think he's a great, personable coach."
Adelman, the son of coaching legend Rick Adelman, got his first NBA job as a player development specialist in Minnesota under his father. After his father retired, the younger Adelman was an assistant coach in Orlando before being hired by Denver and working his way up to being a top assistant under Malone. Adelman had interviewed for multiple NBA head coaching jobs before this one fell in his lap, but he took full advantage of it and gets to keep the gig.
Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton’s public support of 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is well documented, and now the NFL star is returning the favor for his former Iowa State classmate.
During an interview on 95.7 The Game’s “Willard & Dibs” on Thursday, Purdy excitedly voiced his support for Haliburton after the star point guard’s epic heroics helped spark Indiana’s thrilling comeback win over the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
“We knew that was going in from the moment it left his hands, lets be real,” Purdy said regarding Haliburton’s game-tying shot at the end of regulation on Wednesday. “I’m so excited for him and what he’s done this playoff run so far. Just the competitive nature that Tyrese has, the energy that he brings to this team.
“I’m pulling for him and I hope they can pull off the whole thing, man. That would be awesome and I’m pulling for him.”
Now flush with $181 million in guarantees after signing a lucrative contract extension, could Purdy take his support to Madison Square Garden and join the row of celebrities sitting courtside in New York City?
“We’re going to have to find out,” Purdy teased. “There’s no promises right now, but this would be an amazing opportunity to go and support my guy, that’s right.”
Haliburton famously rocked Purdy’s jersey as a pregame fit the day after the 49ers clinched a berth in Super Bowl LVIII.
The Boston Celtics boasted one of the NBA’s best defenses this season, allowing just 107.2 points per game (second in the league) and posting a 110.1 defensive rating (fourth in the league).
But when the NBA unveiled its 2024-25 All-Defensive Teams on Thursday, the C’s were nowhere to be found.
Below is a look at the First and Second Teams; Derrick White was the only Boston player who received votes with 15 total points (two First-Team votes and 11 Second-Team Votes).
A global media panel of 100 voters selected the 2024-25 Kia NBA All-Defensive Team.
Voters selected five players for the First Team and five players for the Second Team at any position.
But should White have received more consideration for at least a Second-Team nod?
White faced an uphill climb to make All-Defense thanks to a rule passed prior to the 2023-24 season that removed position restrictions from voting. Many defensive metrics favor big men while undervaluing guards, which is why this year’s teams are loaded with big men: Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, who led the league with a whopping 229 steals, is the only non-forward or center among the 10 players on this year’s list.
That said, White had made Second-Team All-Defense in each of the previous two seasons — both before and after the eligibility change. His defensive counting stats were relatively comparable year-over-year, as well; White amassed 80 blocks and 72 steals this season after tallying 87 blocks and 74 steals in 2023-24.
His defensive rating actually improved slightly from 109.9 in 2023-24 to 109.5, and he held opponents to two percent below their expected field goal percentage.
White faced stiffer All-Defense competition this year, as Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams and Portland’s Toumani Camara are both excellent young defenders. But you could probably make the case for White on the second team over players like Jaren Jackson Jr or Rudy Gobert, who have strong reputations thanks to their recent Defensive Player of the Year awards but regressed in several defensive stat categories this season. (Jackson’s Grizzlies ranked 24th in the NBA in team defense, for the record.)
White’s omission means the Celtics won’t have any representatives on the All-Defense teams for the first time since 2021, and only the second time in the last eight years.
If the relationship between Warriors superstar Steph Curry and Golden State coach Steve Kerr reminds you of another famous NBA duo, you aren’t alone.
During a recent interview on “The TK Show,” Kerr explained why his bond with Curry is eerily similar to the close relationship between longtime San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and highly decorated big man Tim Duncan.
“Very similar, very similar,” Kerr told Tim Kawakami about his relationship with Curry having a strikinh resemblance to Popovich’s and Duncan’s. “I think Pop and I are a lot alike in many ways, and I think Steph and Tim are a lot alike. I would say that Tim and Steph, if you had to put down names who every coach who ever coached in the NBA, if you asked them to name a couple guys they would want to partner with, Steph and Tim would maybe be the first two guys.
“So, there’s no coincidence why this has lasted 11 years. Steph Curry is an incredible partner and an amazing guy to collaborate with. He sets the tone, culturewise for everything that we do, We have a great bond, I think we share a lot of the same values as human beings, share a similar vision for how the game should be played, and we look forward to seeing each other every day. So why wouldn’t we keep this thing going and why wouldn’t we still enjoy this.”
Kerr, who not only is close friends with Popovich, also played alongside Duncan in San Antonio from 1998 to 2003, giving Golden State’s coach a unique perspective about the similarities between the Spurs and Warriors respective dynasties and the foundational pieces that drove them.
“And I think that’s the dynamic I saw with Pop and Timmy when I played for four seasons with the Spurs. It was very similar, it was collaborative, it was genuine love and friendship. A lot of humor a lot of joy, it’s hard to find that. But Steph and Tim are very similar in that regard. They’re probably the two most collaborative superstars. the most easy to work with that I can imagine.”
Duncan, like Curry, is a two-time NBA MVP while also sharing the rare-but-distinguished honor of playing his entire professional career for one franchise, something every Warriors fan hopes the greatest shooter of all time adds to his resume as well.
In my house, as Tyrese Haliburton's game-tying shot hit the back of the rim, bounced 10 feet in the air, then fell softly through the net, I yelled "Are you kidding me" so loudly my family rushed into the room to make sure I was okay.
My reaction to the Pacers’ wild comeback Game 1 win is typical, and I don't have a dog in this fight. The reaction around the NBA and sports world to Haliburton and the comeback win by the Indiana Pacers was the same, starting with Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark.
PACERS ARE THE GREATEST COMEBACK TEAM IVE EVER SEEN
The Warriors, sitting at 25-26 and 10th in the Western Conference on Feb. 6 were, to put it mildly, in trouble.
Golden State, after a red-hot start to the 2024-25 NBA season, cooled off significantly and struggled throughout the middle part of the campaign. That is, until one move changed everything.
“I was all for it, just because we had nothing going. We were at the point in the season where you could just feel it, we were dead in the water. We were below .500 and it had been a long enough stretch where it was like ‘alright, this isn’t working.’
“So I think it was well-documented that we were trying to get Kevin Durant, that didn’t happen. Mike [Dunleavy] calls me and he goes ‘I think we’re just going to trade for Jimmy Butler, I’m going to vouch for him, I played with him for three years in Chicago. Guy is a gamer, hell of a player. I think it’s going to work.’ I said, ‘great, let’s do it.’ But more than anything, we needed a change.
Some within the Warriors organization had initial concerns about Butler’s fit with Golden State before the trade, and while everyone knew how good of a player he was, Kerr admits that it initially was hard for him to picture Butler playing in the Warriors’ system.
“I didn’t know his game that well, obviously we only played Miami a couple times a year. I’ve watched him and have been impressed, but he doesn’t have the game that jumps off the screen to you skill-wise,” Kerr added. “You watch him and once you see him every other every day you realize why he’s so good.
“But if you’re watching him from a far, he’s not a great shooter, he’s not super athletic, so I didn’t really know what kind of impact he would have. But literally within a game or two I was like ‘this guy is really good.'”
The Warriors ultimately made the right move, and went on to win 24 of their final 32 regular-season games before escaping the NBA Play-In Tournament and taking down the young Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs.
Warriors guard Moses Moody underwent successful surgery to repair a torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) in his right thumb, the team announced Thursday.
Moody underwent the procedure Wednesday in Los Angeles, and he is expected to make a full recovery in time for the start of training camp.
The 22-year-old is coming off a career-best season with Golden State, averaging 9.8 points on 43.3 percent shooting, with 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 22.3 minutes through 74 games (34 starts).
But after signing a three-year contract extension with Golden State worth $39 million, per his agent, the Warriors’ commitment to the young guard was evident. And Moody’s patience paid off, with him becoming an established starter in mid-February and helping the Warriors along their arduous journey to the postseason.
It’s unclear exactly when he sustained the injury in his right shooting thumb, but he did struggle quite a bit during the Warriors’ playoff run, losing his spot in the starting lineup after two playoff games.
Through 12 playoff games, Moody shot just 35 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from 3-point range with 7.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 16.1 minutes.
The good news is he won’t appear to be missing any time as the Warriors prepare for the 2025-26 NBA season.
Perhaps nobody in the professional sports world has had a better 48 hours than 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy and Indiana Pacers star point guard Tyrese Haliburton.
The former signed a whopping five-year, $265 million contract with San Francisco, while the latter continued his iconic NBA playoffs run with another buzzer-beating shot that sent Indiana to overtime in its eventual 138-135 win over the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden.
The two star players, both former Iowa State Cyclones, developed a friendship in college and continue to root for each other to this day. Haliburton has posted about Purdy numerous times on social media, and he has been seen wearing both Purdy’s college and NFL jerseys.
To the Haters,
As the unofficial leader of the Brock Purdy Fan Club, I want to say KICK ROCKS and Go Clones! ITS BROCKTOBER🐐🌪 pic.twitter.com/iiT69U83y2
— Tyrese Haliburton (@TyHaliburton22) May 16, 2025
Purdy joined KNBR 680’s “Murph & Markus” on Thursday, one day after Haliburton and the Pacers’ Game 1 win over the Knicks, and was asked if he had congratulated his longtime friend on his epic playoff run.
“Not yet. I said this last year, but I’m just letting him do his thing throughout the series and then after I’ll shoot him a text,” Purdy said. “But man, is he a baller and he and I are always texting and keeping in touch and I want nothing but the best for my guy.”
Purdy, who led the 49ers to a near-Super Bowl LVIII victory roughly 15 months ago, is no stranger to the spotlight himself, and has been inspired by what he’s seen from Haliburton and the Pacers, the team he’s rooting for in the NBA playoffs.
“He’s had an incredible playoff run so far and some really iconic moments, hitting shots and just being exciting, especially for the Indiana fan base and everything. And obviously, going back to Iowa State, I’ve seen him do those things in Ames, so for him to be able to do this on this level, I couldn’t be happier for him.”
While both star players likely dreamt of reaching this point in their respective careers during college at Iowa State, they never discussed it together. They had more pressing matters to focus on.
“We didn’t have those conversations,” Purdy said when asked if he and Haliburton ever talked about reaching this point in their careers. “We were just trying to get through accounting and stats together. But outside of that we were always talking and joking around from class to class and we got pretty close there, so it’s cool.”
The classmates-turned-star-professional-athletes both have come close to reaching the mountaintops in their respective sports, and with Haliburton three wins away from punching his ticket to the NBA Finals, Purdy will continue to root for his longtime friend from afar.
The Knicks appeared to be cruising their way to a Game 1 victory on Wednesday night.
In front of a rocking MSG crowd, they led the Pacers by as many as 17 points with just under four minutes remaining in regulation.
Clutch bucket after clutch bucket down the stretch cut into the deficit and kept Indiana within striking distance, before Tyrese Haliburton delivered the game-tying jumper as time expired.
The Pacers would go on to silence the MSG crowd, stealing the victory in overtime, capping it off with Obi Toppin's slam and a defensive stand in the closing seconds.
As expected, the NYC back pages had a field day with this one...
The back page: CHOKE 2.0
Epic collapse crushes Knicks in frighteningly fashion
If you turned off Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals with about three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter Wednesday night, you missed an ending for the ages — with a former Boston Celtics draft pick playing a crucial role.
The New York Knicks led the Indiana Pacers by 14 points (119-105) with 2:45 on the clock. Then Pacers guard Aaron Nesmith went absolutely nuclear, hitting five 3-pointers in a span of under three minutes to help Indy storm back.
Tyrese Haliburton delivered the final dagger with a 2-pointer at the end of regulation to force overtime, and the Pacers outlasted the Knicks in overtime to complete a stunning 138-135 victory. But it was Nesmith’s heroics that helped Indy become the first team in NBA playoff history to overcome a 14-point deficit in the final 2:45 of a fourth quarter.
To put Nesmith’s late-game eruption into context, the fifth-year guard hit six 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, which is the most by any player in a single quarter of a playoff game since 1998. And Nesmith hit all of his triples within the final five minutes.
Aaron Nesmith's 6 threes in the fourth quarter…
was the MOST EVER by ANY player in the playoffs since the 1998 Playoffs (PxP era) 😱
Nesmith has had quite the basketball journey; he was one of the best shooters in college basketball entering the 2020 NBA Draft (52.2 percent from 3-point range at Vanderbilt in 2019-20), and was expected to continue that success with the Celtics, who selected him 14th overall.
But Nesmith just couldn’t make a bucket in Boston, averaging just 4.2 points per game over two seasons (98 total games) while shooting 31.8 percent from distance. After the 2021-22 season, the Celtics dealt Nesmith — along with Daniel Theis, Malik Fitts, Juwan Morgan, Nik Stauskas and a 2023 first-round pick — to Indiana in return for Malcolm Brogdon.
In the short term, the deal was a win for the C’s, as Brogdon earned Sixth Man of the Year honors while helping Boston reach the Eastern Conference Finals. But Nesmith since has blossomed in Indy, rediscovering his shooting stroke (43.1 percent from 3 this season) and playing with relentless energy for a perennial East contender.
Nesmith’s contributions culminated in Wednesday’s 30-point effort on 9 of 13 shooting (8 of 9 from 3) that has the Pacers three wins from an NBA Finals berth.
“It’s unreal,” Nesmith said after the game. “It’s probably the best feeling in the world for me, personally. I love it when that basket feels like an ocean and anything you toss up, you feel like it’s going to go in. Ahh, it’s just, so much fun.”
The Celtics got their own star from that 2020 draft — Boston selected Payton Pritchard 12 picks later at No. 26 overall — but it has to sting a bit watching Nesmith thrive in another uniform.
