While they might not match up head-to-head, with Indiana using Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith and Ben Sheppard as rotating defenders on Brunson, the two point guards are the clear leaders of their teams, albeit in different ways. Brunson is deservedly the recipient of the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year award and the Knicks have relied on him to provide scoring against defenses built to slow him down. Haliburton is often orchestrating for others, getting every one of the dangerous shooters on the Pacers shots before worrying about his own — although, as the Cavaliers saw when the Pacers knocked them out, Haliburton can take over from three-point range or with late-game heroics.

The key roles for these two might be in defending the opposing point guard — Bridges is likely to get a first shot at Haliburton, while Nembhard will likely get Brunson (although Sheppard and Nesmith spent slightly more time on Brunson in the regular season). Nembhard delivered a game-winning three against the Knicks in the last postseason matchup and converted 50% from three-point range in the five-game beatdown of the Cavs. Bridges answered a lot of questions about the deal that brought him to the Knicks with his defensive heroics against Detroit and Boston.

Again, this matchup is a wild card because you’ll rarely see them actually matched up. Hart is the Knicks' energy source, a non-stop mix of hustle and surprisingly skillful passing. But if the Pacers try to use a defender like Myles Turner on him and allow him to shoot threes, he has shown a willingness to make them pay. And if they try to use Haliburton on him, he will be crashing the offensive glass. Nesmith can take turns on anyone from Brunson to Anunoby and has hit threes at a 48.2% rate after shooting 43.1% in the regular season. His two-way production gives him the advantage.

The former Toronto teammates have faced each other five times head-to-head and Anunoby has gotten the better of it, including a 28-points-in-28-minutes performance in Game 2 of the semifinals last season before Anunoby suffered a hamstring injury that sidelined him for nearly the rest of the series.  Anunoby has been a consistent defensive force, and that will come in handy against the versatile Indiana offense, but the Knicks could use more consistent offensive production in this series.

Turner is one of the most underrated big men in the NBA -  a shot blocker who can hit threes and operate smoothly around the rim offensively, and somehow seems to be in trade or free agent talks every offseason. Towns dominated the regular-season meetings this season, averaging 30.3 points against Indiana.

The Pacers certainly have more depth than the Knicks, and are willing to use it — 11 players average at least 9.6 minutes while the Knicks have seven, cutting the bench contribution to Mitchell Robinson and Deuce McBride with spot duty for Cam Payne and Precious Achiuwa. Robinson has been a huge contributor to the Knicks, particularly against Boston. But Indiana is as likely to win a game behind Bennedict Mathurin, T.J. McConnell or Sheppard as any of their starters — and we haven’t even mentioned Obi Toppin.

What do you get when you match up Rick Carlisle, who is seven short of 1,000 regular-season wins with Tom Thibodeau’s 578 wins — and a better winning percentage? Well, two coaches who will not be surprised by anything. We shouldn’t be surprised to see them playing chess against each other. Last season, that included Carlisle rolling out the small-market disrespect card when lobbying the NBA for foul calls.

If you’re thinking it was just injuries that cost the Knicks a chance to beat Indiana last season, you haven’t been watching what the Pacers have done after a sluggish start to this season, compiling a 40-17 record after a 10-15 start and breezing past Milwaukee and Cleveland. But, if the Knicks can keep up with the Pacers' frenetic pace, they do have the talent edge in the starting five.

The Pacers are deep and like to run, which could tax a Knicks team with a short bench. But the Knicks have the best player on the court in Brunson, who the Pacers have struggled with before. This series will go the distance again, only this time the Knicks will close it out at home.

The Knicks went from the pugnacious Pistons to the step-back Celtics and now to the pick-up-the-Pacers, who could be their toughest playoff matchup yet. Can the slightly favored Knicks keep up with a run-and-gun team that is faster and deeper than them? In theory, yes. But Brunson will have to do a masterful job controlling the pace of games, which the Knicks cannot allow to speed up and out of control. It will not be easy. PACERS IN 6