GREENBURGH — Friday’s Game 6 win over the Boston Celtics set off a wild celebration for the fan base in New York, but for the Knicks it provided something else: a blueprint.

On that night, before the streets were taken over, lamp posts and billboards were scaled, the Knicks put on display the sort of defensive effort that smothered the Celtics. And it’s the communication, getting back in transition and hustling to close out on every shooter that  the Knicks will need to slow down the Indiana Pacers offense in the Eastern Conference finals.

“Yeah, obviously the way we played, we showed we have the ability to do it,” Jalen Brunson said. “We’re going to have to communicate, talk and do whatever we’ve got to do against this team too because they’re going to run, they’re going to play fast on makes and misses. That’s just in their DNA. It’s going to be a long way to go. We’ve got to have each other’s back. We’ve got to stick together. Nothing’s going to be perfect but our talk, our energy has to be consistent.”

Like Boston, which puts five players who can stretch the floor on the court at the same time, Indiana is a threat far beyond Tyrese Haliburton. The Pacers have had four players shoot better than 40% from beyond the arc in the postseason so far — Andrew Nembhard (50%), Pascal Siakam (44.1%), Myles Turner (45%) and Aaron Nesmith (48.2%).

And just as the Knicks got it right in Game 6 against Boston, that means finding shooters and being perfect in rotations and switches. It might even be more difficult, because while Boston would often walk the ball up the court, Indiana runs on missed shots and made shots. The Pacers also try to push the pace to a frenetic level to force mistakes and missed assignments.

“I think when it’s playoff time, you want to do everything it takes to win,” Josh Hart said. “And I think you saw that all over the place the last couple of series. Obviously, that one huge Mitch [Robinson] possession that he kind of rotated on everyone. He rotated on one guy, somebody already stepped up for him. It was just a domino effect.

“Everybody wants to win, and we’re locked in on that. We’re communicating at a higher level. I think the last two games of the Boston series without [Jayson] Tatum, they were moving the ball a little bit faster, they were running quicker. It forced us to communicate at a high level. I think that’s something that can help us going into this series with Indiana.”

Indiana’s postseason offensive rating is tops among the remaining teams in the playoffs, second only to Cleveland (who they knocked out in five games) among all teams in the postseason. The Pacers' true shooting percentage, effective field goal percentage and assist ratio are all tops in the NBA. And if you don’t think they move at a different pace than Boston, consider that only Memphis and Oklahoma City have been better in the playoffs in pace while Boston is 15th among playoff teams.

“You’ve got to try to make them uncomfortable," Hart said. "We looked at the numbers and I think they got four or five guys, six guys, that are shooting 40s, 50s [from three-point range]. It’s going to be obviously a tough matchup. We have to try to be physical, get to the ball, get them out of rhythm and lastly communicate, so they don’t have open shots. It’s going to be a huge series for us. I think we’re capable of it.”

Brunson was happy to see the celebration by the fans, but even in the immediate aftermath of knocking off the defending champion Celtics he was focused on this next task.

“I think it was very important and great for the fans to have our backs and celebrate the way they did,” Brunson said. “For us, we know there’s a long way to go and so we don’t really look at it as an accomplishment. It’s just the next step. We’re grateful, we’re thankful and we know there’s a long way to go.”