The New York Knicks have been eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in the last two NBA playoffs, but they could have avoided this.
The New York Knicks lost Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals to the Indiana Pacers. Their season is now over, thanks to the Pacers.
This is the second year in a row that the Pacers have ended the Knicks’ season. Last year, the Pacers vanquished a hobbled Knicks side in seven games to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
It appears that the Pacers just have the Knicks’ number, and there isn’t much they can do about it. Some changes might help, even if that means upsetting Jalen Brunson and letting Tom Thibodeau go.
But the fact is, in a strange way, the Knicks actually created their own bogey team, even though they had no idea about it at the time.
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New York Knicks chose Obi Toppin over Tyrese Haliburton
In the 2020 NBA Draft, the New York Knicks had the 8th overall pick and were looking to address some gaps in their roster.
One of the key needs they had was at the point guard position. Luckily for them, the best available point guard for them at that point was Tyrese Haliburton.
However, in a bizarre move, the Knicks decided to forgo Haliburton to select Obi Toppin, who was a sophomore and averaged 20.0 per game, one of the highest in the A-10 conference, where he represented Dayton.
To address their point guard issues, the Knicks made a draft-night trade for Immanuel Quickley. While Haliburton fell down to the 12th pick, where the Sacramento Kings picked him.
Haliburton snub costs NYK massively
Years later, as both players began to develop, the Indiana Pacers came into the picture, as they landed Tyrese Haliburton in a trade with the Kings in 2022.
Ahead of the 2023-2024 season, the Knicks seemingly gave up on Obi Toppin, trading him to the Pacers in exchange for two second-round picks.
In the subsequent seasons, both Haliburton and Toppin would get some measure of revenge over the Knicks for snubbing them.
The Knicks picked Toppin over Haliburton in 2020. Five years later, both players are responsible for their consecutive heartbreaking exits.