Pacers Game Preview: Who Are The New York Knicks?

The Indiana Pacers will play NBA basketball on Tuesday.

how we woke up because WE PLAY A BASKETBALL GAME TONIGHT pic.twitter.com/ppUaGSET5M
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) October 5, 2021

Yes, that is right, after losing to the Washington Wizards on May 20 to end their 2020-21 season just one game shy of the postseason, they will resume action 138 days later.

However, this game won't actually count.

IT’S [PRESEASON] GAME DAY 🔥

🆚: New York Knicks
📍: Madison Square Garden
🕢: 7:30pm ET
📻: @1075thefan
📱: https://t.co/vKGotPusnP pic.twitter.com/sk5mvXSn5S
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) October 5, 2021

The Pacers are playing the New York Knicks in New York City at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday evening for both team's first preseason game of the year.

Who are the Knicks?

After missing the NBA Playoffs for nearly a decade, the Knicks found themselves back in the postseason last year.

🗣GAME DAY pic.twitter.com/R7QU4qwudm
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) October 5, 2021

They didn't just squeak in either.

They were the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference and had home-court advantage.

Julius Randle made his first trip to the All-Star game, and Tom Thibodeau (in his first season as Knicks head coach) won the NBA's Coach of The Year Award.

They, however, did lose in five games to the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the playoffs, but at the end of the day they still had a season that beat everyone's expectations.

This season, they bring back most of the same roster and will hopefully see more growth from Randle (only 26 years old) and 2019 third overall pick R.J. Barrett.

In addition, they added four-time All-Star Kemba Walker, who is a New York native and will probably be very motivated after missing the All-Star game last year for the first time since 2016.

If the Pacers want to make noise in the Eastern Conference this season, the Knicks are one of the teams they will for sure be competing with in the standings.

Many teams do not play all of their players during the preseason, so it's yet to be determined who will be playing for the Knicks (see Tweet below from Tony East of Forbes about the Pacers injury report for the game).

Injury report for Pacers-Knicks tomorrow features no surprises for the Pacers. TJ Warren (Fractured Left Navicular), Caris LeVert (Sore Lower Back), and Edmond Sumner (Torn Left Achilles Tendon) are out. Nobody else is listed. I expect Rick Carlisle will play a lot of guys.
— Tony East (@TonyREast) October 4, 2021

Tweets from Fred Katz of The Athletic and Tommy Beer of Forbes can be seen below about what is known about the Knicks injury report.

Beer notes that Mitchell Robinson will not play.

The Knicks did not practice today, by the way, so no update on who might be available or not for tomorrow’s preseason opener against the Pacers. We’ll have a better idea when Tom Thibodeau speaks to reporters at 5:45 p.m. ET.
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) October 5, 2021

this was expected - as the medical staff and coaches want to take it slow and err on the side of caution with Mitch Rob... He's still not practicing fully with the team.

High-flying Jericho Sims may soak up some additional available minutes during the preseason.
— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) October 4, 2021

The game preview from the Pacers website can be read here.

The Knicks are 2-point favorites, according to FanDuel.

WE BACK.

🏀: vs. Indiana
⏰: 7:30 PM ET
📺: @MSGNetworks | MSG GO pic.twitter.com/RRYYQuTYtx
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) October 5, 2021