A summary of how the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers players performed in Game 1.
When a team qualifies for the conference finals, they start to eye the illustrious Larry O’Brien trophy and a chance to lift it at the end of the postseason.
The conference finals have commenced in both conferences as the Indiana Pacers took on the New York Knicks in Game 1.
After a phenomenal game, the Pacers walked away with a 138-135 win in overtime as they now hold a 1-0 lead over their noisy rivals.
Starting a series on a strong note is extremely important and the Pacers did just that vs the Knicks. Evidently, there were a few standout performances in the opening game of the series.
According to data provided by Sofascore, Tyrese Haliburton was the best player on the court for the Pacers with an 8.4 rating. Hali finished the night with 31 points, 4 rebounds, and 11 assists.
Tied with Haliburton was Aaron Nesmith, who exploded for 30 points in 39 minutes and provided some much-needed support to the Pacers’ cornerstone star.
Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner also left their imprint on the game with 7.3 and 7.0 ratings. Siakam added 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. On the other hand, Turner had 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists in 31 minutes.
Despite ending up on the losing side, both teams were evenly matched as there was just a three-point difference between them.
While Jalen Brunson has been the driving force for the Knicks throughout the 2025 postseason, he had an 8.1 rating as he contributed 43 points, 1 rebound, and 5 assists.
Karl-Anthony Towns earned the highest rating on both teams with 8.8, thanks to his 35 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 assists in 39 minutes of playing time.
On the other hand, OG Anunoby’s shooting struggles continued as he shot 6-of-15 to score 16 points and received a 6.6 rating. It’s obvious that OG needs to work on his shooting.
