Indiana Pacers: Expectations from season opener vs. the New York Knicks

The Indiana Pacers will open the season at home against the Knicks.

It has been reported that the Indiana Pacers open their season on Dec. 23 at home against the New York Knicks. The Knicks are coming off another down year while the Pacers come in fresh off another playoff appearance.

With training camp underway and the Pacers looking ahead to the season, what should we expect from opening night? Preseason games will give us more of a glimpse into how the team will perform under new head coach Nate Bjorkgren. For now, we can only offer expectations based on last year’s performance and the makeup of the current roster.

Early expectations for the Indiana Pacers

It is no secret that the Knicks are not a premier team in the Eastern Conference. However, New York challenged Indiana in all three meetings last season as the Pacers won the season series 2-1, including a narrow one-point victory in the first matchup. The Knicks won the only matchup at Bankers Life Fieldhouse last season by a score of 92-85.

New York has an exciting roster but it is not a competitive one. The Pacers should come in prepared and take care of business pretty handily, in my opinion. Indiana has way too much talent on the roster to struggle with this Knicks group but health will be a major factor. Assuming Indiana has Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis at full strength, they will show why they are a playoff team in the Eastern Conference.

Back in 2018, Sabonis scored 30 points against the Knicks on a perfect 12-of-12 shooting while also adding nine rebounds. The All-Star big man will put in work once again against a deep Knicks frontcourt.

I would like to see the young guys get some time in this opener as well to see how they gel with the core rotations. Edmond Sumner, Aaron Holiday, and Cassius Stanley should all get some minutes early on this season in order to find their role within the team.

One matchup to really keep an eye on is the rim protection on both ends of the floor. The Pacers have a stud defender in Myles Turner while the Knicks have a young star in Mitchell Robinson. I think both players will be fun to watch this season, especially down near the rim.

We will know right away just how good this Pacers team is when they return to real action in a few weeks. Struggling against the Knicks will be a very bad sign of things to come this season.