GREENBURGH – Josh Hart was 5. Karl-Anthony Towns was 4. Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges were 3. OG Anunoby was 2.

It was June 2, 2000, Game 6 of the Eastern Conference final at Madison Square Garden, a quarter century of Knicks frustration ago.

The Pacers beat the Knicks, 93-80, that day to win the series, 4-2, behind 34 points from Reggie Miller.

On Wednesday night, at long last, the Knicks will be back in the NBA semifinals, only to find a familiar old foe at the Garden.

Not Miller, who although he will be courtside as a TNT analyst will be safely out of his Pacers uniform, if not his shooting range.

It will be the 2024-25 Pacers the Knicks have to worry about, in a matchup of teams that upset the higher-seeded Cavaliers and Celtics, respectively, in the previous round.

The Knicks are slight betting favorites, but most of the NBA and its fans expect a closely contested battle for an unlikely spot in the NBA Finals.

Last season, the teams went seven games in a second-round series before the Pacers prevailed over the banged-up Knicks.

This time, the Knicks are healthy and eager to write their own chapters in what has been a storied rivalry between two cities with little else in common.

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, a Knicks assistant in the late 1990s and early 2000s, was asked after practice on Tuesday about those years of the rivalry, flashed a rare smile and said, “Oh, God. That was a long time ago . . . Those were the good old days.”

His current players mostly know of that era from tales they have heard passed down from others, or from standard definition video they have watched.

Towns, who grew up in New Jersey, said, “There's definitely a sense of hatred for each other, so I think that makes a good rivalry.

“They have a history of finding a way to end each other's season. So it's up to us now to add our names into history and see what we can do.”

Like other current Knicks, Towns knew about one central figure in the rivalry specifically.

“I just know the atmosphere that New York had around Reggie Miller,” he said. “I do remember that.”

Said Bridges, “I always knew about Reggie Miller and Spike [Lee]. That was probably the biggest thing I’ve seen growing up.”

That Miller-Lee feud peaked in 1994, before any current Knicks starter was born.

The historic backdrop has been an added element leading up to the series, but come Wednesday night, all that will matter is 2025.

The Knicks are coming off six-game series victories over the Pistons and Celtics. This matchup will bring another challenge.

Indiana is fast and deep and figures to try to run the less fast and less deep Knicks off the court. The Knicks know what to expect and are preparing accordingly.

“We’ve got to run, too,” Bridges said. “We’ve got to communicate. I think transition defense is a lot. And we have to be really good at it. They pick teams apart. They share the ball and they all move, play off each other.”

The Pacers are certain to run if any Knick makes the mistake of complaining to an official about a call before finding his way back on defense. Towns has been criticized for that at times during these playoffs.

“If we’re going to be doing that, we just have to do that in the flow of getting back on defense,” Towns said. “It’s also waiting for dead-ball situations to talk to the refs about what we may not like.”

Said Bridges, “That half-a-second you look and talk to the ref, they’re gone. They’re 5-on-4 . . . You can’t give them any type of advantage like that. You’ve just got to get back.

“Maybe when there’s a timeout go talk to the ref and see maybe whatever you thought happened. But during the live play, no. Because that’s just feeding to their game and they’re going to get open looks.”

Under other circumstances, one could argue the Knicks have little to lose given that few expected them to survive the second round.

But the fact that the No. 4 seed Pacers did, too, has turned things around. The Knicks have homecourt advantage, are favored by oddsmakers and have an experienced team built to win now.

The goal on this silver anniversary of their last trip this far is to turn the opportunity into a golden moment.