Knicks vs. Pacers predictions, expert picks for 2025 Eastern Conference finals: New York on upset alert?

The 2025 Eastern Conference finals tip off Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden

The New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers are reigniting their playoff rivalry in the 2025 Eastern Conference finals. Both teams are looking for their first NBA Finals appearance in more than two decades. The third-seeded Knicks got here by upsetting the reigning champion Boston Celtics in the second round. The fourth-seeded Pacers took down the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in five games. The Knicks and Pacers are squaring off in the playoffs for the second year in a row after Indy won a second-round series in seven games.

Jalen Brunson has been one of the biggest stars of these playoffs, leading the Knicks to their first conference finals since 2000. They lost in the ECF that year... to the Pacers. The Pacers, led this season by Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam and a deep supporting cast, have not been to the NBA Finals since then. The Knicks have not won the East since 1999... when they beat the Pacers.

So who do our CBS Sports NBA experts think will make it to the NBA Finals this year? Our picks are below.

Eastern Conference finals picks

Series odds (via BetMGM: Knicks -155, Pacers +130)

	Brad Botkin	James Herbert	Jack Maloney	Sam Quinn	Colin Ward-Henninger	Jasmyn Wimbish
Knicks vs. Pacers	Pacers	Pacers	Pacers	Knicks	Pacers	Knicks

Botkin: Pacers in 6. I think the Pacers, even after two straight conference finals appearances, are better than a lot of fans realize, and I also think the Knicks are not as good as this run suggests. The Knicks, frankly, were outplayed by Detroit but advanced on some very unlikely outcomes (a 21-0 run in Game 1, a non-call on Tim Hardaway Jr. in Game 4) and were the beneficiary of two historic Boston collapses before Jayson Tatum ruptured his Achilles. That's not to take anything away from New York, it's real information to use in gauging this series, at least to whatever extent anything in these playoffs can be gauged. Indiana's pace will eventually wear down a far thinner New York team, which will find itself in more and more compromised cross-matches as it struggles to balance the rewards of offensive rebounding vs. the protective measures of getting back with enough time to settle into the proper matchups. Indiana relentlessly hunts, and kills, the most vulnerable matchups, and it will get New York into too many of them to survive.

Herbert: Pacers in 6. Both of these teams pulled off enormous upsets in the second round, and I'm calling another (less enormous) upset here. This isn't because of last season's series -- the Pacers are better than they were then, and the Knicks are both better and significantly different personnel-wise -- but I anticipate Indiana trying to do the same thing it did then: wear out New York over time by pushing the pace and pressuring 94 feet on every possession. This should be a fun, closely contested series, and I'm going with the team that has more depth and has been more consistent throughout the playoffs. (If Aaron Nesmith can't stay out of foul trouble, though, this prediction will look foolish.)

Maloney: Pacers in 6. I thought the Pacers were underrated last round against the Cavaliers, but I didn't actually pick them to win the series. I am this time against the Knicks. The Pacers have only lost two games thus far and have the best offensive rating (117.3) in the playoffs of any remaining team. I don't expect the Knicks, who needed a lot of shooting and injury luck to sneak past the Celtics, to be the team that solves Indiana's high-paced, five-out style, which is expertly orchestrated by Tyrese Haliburton.

Quinn: Knicks in 7. Throw last year's series out the window. The Knicks are at full strength this time, but Tyrese Haliburton isn't hampered anymore either. This series could go either way. Indiana's ball-movement and pace are going to exhaust a Knicks team that really only trusts seven players. The Pacers have never been able to slow down Jalen Brunson all that much. This one is going to be a back-and-forth series that could go either way. In the end, I'm leaning on home-court advantage and the best closer left in the playoff field. I'm expecting Jalen Brunson to finish this thing off for New York in what should be one of the more fun Eastern Conference finals matchups we've seen in years.

Ward-Henninger: Pacers in 7. The Knicks have some serious momentum after their Game 6 dismantling of the Celtics, but you have to think in terms of a whole series. The Pacers will run and run and run in an effort to tire the Knicks out, and over the course of seven games it will take a toll on a team that relies so heavily on its starters. Meanwhile the Pacers are extremely deep, and have an offense that can match -- if not exceed -- the Knicks' attack. Indiana will struggle with New York's physicality, but ultimately I think it pulls off a stunner at the Garden in Game 7.

Wimbish: Knicks in 6. Everyone underestimated the Knicks in the second round against a Boston team that also shot the ball incredibly well from 3-point range, and had the depth advantage on New York. The Pacers play at a quicker pace than the Celtics and that will tire the Knicks out, but I also think Indiana will struggle with New York's physicality. If these games are close down the stretch, I'm going with the guy who just won Clutch Player of the Year -- Jalen Brunson -- whom the Pacers struggle to slow down.