Finally back in Eastern Conference finals, Knicks face Pacers team that eliminated them last year

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Knicks nearly ended their lengthy Eastern Conference finals drought last year, only to lose on their home floor to the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the second round.

With two new starters and much better health, the Knicks finally made it this season for the first time in 25 years.

The opponent will be those same Pacers, who return to Madison Square Garden for a series that begins Wednesday night.

“More to go,” Knicks guard Mikal Bridges said. “We’re not done.”

Since their last trip to the conference finals in 2000 — another loss to the Pacers — the Knicks had reached the second round only one time until doing it each of the last two years following the arrival of Jalen Brunson.

So finally getting over that hump with their 119-81 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 6 on Friday was a significant step, just not one the Knicks cared to celebrate.

“The goal is always to win a championship and so we’ve got eight wins. You need 16, right? And each one gets harder and harder, so you've got to keep fighting,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.

The Knicks had a 2-0 lead in the series against the Pacers last year before they were decimated with injuries, and Indiana ran them off the floor in Game 7.

New York then traded for Bridges shortly after the season and made a blockbuster move to acquire Karl-Anthony Towns from Minnesota just before the start of this one. It didn't appear those were going to be the final moves that built a championship team, as the Knicks finished 51-31, well behind Cleveland and Boston, and went a combined 0-8 against those teams.

But they won’t have to worry about the Cavaliers, who lost in five games to the Pacers, and completely turned things around against the Celtics. New York overcame 20-point deficits in the second halves of both games in Boston to open the series.

The resolve the Knicks showed in those comebacks wasn't there during the regular-season matchups against the Celtics, when the first three were blowouts. But maybe the Knicks have found it just in time.

“When you’re in these situations, especially in the playoffs, we talk about that New York grit, that unrelentless belief that we will never lose,” Towns said. “And I think that this series, when you want to go deeper into the playoffs, you have to have that and we showed it this series and I think that was really special for us.”

The Knicks were decided underdogs going into the series after the ease with which the Celtics handled them in the regular season. Boston obviously wasn't quite the same team after Jayson Tatum's ruptured Achilles tendon late in Game 4, but the Celtics were still the defending champions and felt they had enough to win even without their leading scorer.

Instead, the Knicks were so dominant in Game 6 that Brunson was asked afterward if their victory in the series felt like an upset.

“Regardless of what anyone thinks, upset or not, we’re just happy to come out of this series with a win and moving on we’ve got to prepare for another team,” he said.

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Boston Celtics' Payton Pritchard, right, defends New York Knicks' Mikal Bridges during the second half of Game 6 in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs Friday, May 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Knicks' OG Anunoby (8) celebrates after making a three-point shot during the second half of Game 6 in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Boston Celtics Friday, May 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Knicks' Josh Hart (3) gestures after Boston Celtics' Jaylen Brown (7) fouls out during the second half of Game 6 in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs Friday, May 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns (32) celebrates during the second half of Game 6 in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Boston Celtics Friday, May 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A gunman in Texas opened fire on a crowded bar in Austin's busy nightlife district over the weekend before being fatally shot by police in an attack that authorities were investigating as a potential act of terrorism.

The shooting early Sunday killed three people and wounded more than a dozen others. The suspect was wearing clothes with an Iranian flag design and the words “Property of Allah," a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

The mass shooting happened after the U.S. and Israel launched an attack on Iran. The FBI and Austin police said they were still looking into the motive behind the shooting, which sent people in the bar and surrounding streets scrambling for cover.

Here's what to know about the shooting:

Police said the gunman drove past Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden before circling back and firing the first shots from his SUV at people on the sidewalk and inside the bar early Sunday.

Some college students dove for cover while others were motionless inside the bar and across the street next to a food truck, trying to understand what was happening.

The shooting stopped for a moment. The police chief said the suspect parked, got out with a rifle and began shooting at others before officers rushed to the intersection and shot him.

Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis identified two victims as 21-year-old Savitha Shan and 19-year-old Ryder Harrington. Austin Police announced Monday evening that 30-year-old Jorge Pederson had died from his injuries.

Harrington joined the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Texas Tech University in 2024, the fraternity said in an Instagram post. Shan’s LinkedIn profile listed her as a dual-degree student majoring in management information systems and economics at the University of Texas.

The bar is on Sixth Street, a nightlife destination filled with bars and music clubs near the flagship campus of the University of Texas system. The school is one of the nation's largest universities with 55,000 enrolled students.

Nathan Comeaux, a 22-year-old senior, spent the evening there with friends and said the bar was “full of college students, probably mostly UT kids, shoulder to shoulder, hundreds just enjoying their nights.”

Some of those affected included “members of our Longhorn family,” University President Jim Davis said, using the name of the school's mascot.

Police taped off several square blocks around Sixth Street after the shooting. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents and other federal investigators joined local police at the scene.

Both the FBI and police in Austin said Monday that it’s too soon to identify the motive.

Police identified the gunman as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne. The gunman legally bought the pistol and rifle he used in the attack several years ago in San Antonio, the police chief said.

Diagne was originally from Senegal, according to multiple people briefed on the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.

He first entered the U.S in 2000 on a B-2 tourist visa, becoming a lawful permanent resident six years later after marrying a U.S. citizen, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Associated Press reporters on Monday were unable to reach Diagne’s family members in the Austin area or his ex-wife, who recently was listed as living near San Antonio. A person who answered the door at a house listed for his ex-wife declined to comment and told a reporter to talk with investigators.

The entertainment district has a heavy police presence on weekends, and officers were able to confront the gunman within a minute of the first call for help, the police chief said.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson praised the fast response by police and rescuers.

“They definitely saved lives,” he said.

Comeaux, the UT Austin senior, filmed the suspect as he walked toward Buford's with his gun pointed at officers, and officers fired at him.

“The shooter was walking towards where I was and towards where the bar was, where there could have been 10 times as much damage if he’d gone back to the bar where hundreds of students were hiding,” Comeaux said. “So I’m just very grateful for the heroic police officers who were able to stop the suspect.”

McAvoy reported from Honolulu. Associated Press writers Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; and Alanna Durkin Richer, Eric Tucker and Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed.

The Austin Police Department and the FBI investigate a shooting at Buford's on 6th Street on Sunday, March 1, 2026, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Jack Myer)