The New York Knicks are en route to clinching their third consecutive playoff berth in the next week or so, but it remains to be seen who they will match up with in the first round of the postseason.

There are three likely teams that the Knicks could face, and one of them brings an added familiarity in the Indiana Pacers.

The Pacers beat the Knicks in seven games to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago, but The Athletic insider James Edwards III believes there could be a different outcome if the two teams met up again this season.

“The thing that makes the Pacers the scariest team for the Knicks in the first round is Indiana’s pace. The Pacers, like the Pistons, are playing fast now and will when the postseason starts. That is who they are. New York has already started to show signs of tiring with a few weeks remaining and isn’t a great team in transition or even defensively when things aren’t set. The Knicks have too many mental lapses against teams that get up and down,” Edwards writes.

“The Knicks can win this series with a relatively healthy Brunson, likely in six or seven games. However, considering Indiana plays fast, takes care of the ball, and has a good blend of high-end talent and a bench that ranks 11th in the NBA in scoring and sixth in scoring efficiency, it could prove too much for a New York team that isn’t deep or showing signs of slowing with a few weeks left in the regular season.”

The Knicks won’t be given anything in the playoffs, especially against the Pacers. They will have to earn each and every win if they want to get deeper into the postseason.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Due to multiple injury problems, Jakai Newton never got the chance to show Indiana fans what he could do in his two seasons with the Hoosiers.

Now he will try to show a different set of fans what he might be able to do.

Newton announced via his Instagram feed that he has entered the transfer portal.

Newton only played four games for the Hoosiers, all in the 2024-25 season and all but one of them in nonconference play.

It was a small sampling of the potential that the athletic 6-foot-3 guard had. Injury woes turned his Indiana career into a frustrating two-year endeavor.

Newton was a promising recruit out of Newton High School in Covington, Ga. and part of the Class of 2023 recruiting group that also included Gabe Cupps, and later, Mackenzie Mgbako. Both of those players are also in the transfer portal.

Newton suffered a knee injury during his senior season at Newton. Late in the summer of 2023, Newton had surgery and would not play during what would have been his freshman season.

Given a medical waiver, Newton began the 2024-25 as a freshman, but injuries kept him on the sideline again.

Newton suffered a hamstring injury and an unspecified lower body that he had surgery to repair. He was declared out indefinitely in December and would only return for one more game – a four-minute appearance against Illinois on Jan. 14.

Newton’s appearances with the Hoosiers presented a very small sample size. In the second game of the 2024-25 season, Newton peaked with eight minutes of game time. In his next game, nearly a month later against Sam Houston State, he reached his career high of four points. Newton only attempted six shots in his career.

Newton is the fourth scholarship player to enter the transfer portal. Cupps and Malik Reneau announced their intention to enter the portal last week. Mgbako put himself into the portal earlier on Monday.

Today was the first day the portal was open for all men’s and women’s college basketball, but the portal opened for Indiana players last week after Mike Woodson’s tenure ended as coach.

Darian DeVries was hired last Tuesday from West Virginia as Indiana’s 31st men’s basketball coach.

The South Carolina Gamecocks felt disrespected following their win over Indiana.

South Carolina’s women’s basketball team kept their national title hopes alive after defeating the Indiana Hoosiers in the round of 32. The Gamecocks will play the winner of the Alabama vs Maryland game, which will be played Monday evening.

The Gamecocks were trailing the Hoosiers at halftime and were at one point down by eight points. As great teams do though, South Carolina came crawling back and a strong second half performance lofted them over Indiana, and the Gamecocks had some strong words to share after their win.

The Hoosiers and Gamecocks faced off in the Sweet 16 a year ago. It was a tightly contested game and Indiana guard Sydney Parrish was asked about it prior to this season’s matchup.

Parrish told the media prior to Sunday’s matchup that they felt better about this year’s chances because South Carolina was “Without a 6-7 kid in there with Kamilla (Cordoso) and Ashlyn Watkins being injured at the beginning of this year, that definitely helps us.”

South Carolina guard Raven Johnson commented on the subject following the win.

“People say we don’t have this dominant big,” Johnson said. “I know y’all saw the press conference of what the Indiana girl said about we wasn’t gonna win without Ashlyn or Kamilla, we don’t need Ashlyn or Kamilla to win. We got a whole team full of dogs. We don’t need Ashlyn or Kamilla to win. We’ve got MiLaysia [Fulwiley], we’ve got Tessa [Johnson], I can name the whole roster. We’ve got dogs on this team.”

It took a whole team effort for the Gamecocks to beat Indiana. Chloe Kitts poured in 10 points with 11 rebounds, Bree Hall led the way with 11 points and Sania Feagin also had 10 points in the team’s win. It’s part of what makes South Carolina so dangerous and why so many believe they will repeat as champions this year.

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