The years pᴀss. The rosters turn over. Coaches get hired and fired. Old arenas get renovated, or replaced. Yet whenever it’s time to get good and excited about the Knicks and the spring, there is always one common denominator. 

Hicks versus Slicks. 

Pacers versus Knicks. 

When the Pacers visit MSG on Wednesday, it’ll mark the ninth time they’ve squared off with the Knicks in the playoffs since 1993. In the “division era” of sports, which dates to 1969, the first year that all four major professional leagues had playoffs, that’ll mark the second-most times a New York team has ever faced the same opponent (non-hockey division, something I’ll explain in a minute).