The first draft pick of the Leon Rose era with the Knicks will be standing on the other side in the second round of the playoffs.
Former lottery pick Obi Toppin has become a regular contributor in his first season with the Pacers, and he posted a postseason career-high of 21 points off the bench in their Game 6 clincher Thursday night over the Bucks.
The Brooklyn native’s return to the Garden as a second-round opponent beginning with Game 1 on Monday figures to be among several intriguing storylines after the Knicks dispatched the 76ers in the opening round.
“I feel like I’m gonna have the same mentality that I had coming into this series,” Toppin said Thursday night, before it was determined that the Knicks would be his team’s next postseason opponent. “No matter who’s in front of us, we’re locked into everything the coaches are telling us to do offensively and defensively, whether it’s the Knicks, whether it’s the Bucks, anybody we’re playing against.”
Toppin, the eighth overall pick out of Dayton in the 2020 draft, played just 14.7 minutes per game in three seasons with the Knicks while mostly stuck behind All-Star forward Julius Randle.
The 6-foot-9 Toppin, who won the Slam Dunk contest in 2022, got into a shouting match with Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau during the second round of the playoffs against Miami last year.
Toppin was traded to the Pacers for two second-round picks in July, and the pending restricted free agent appeared in all 82 games (28 starts) for them this season with career highs in minutes (21.1 per game), points (10.3), rebounds (3.9), field-goal percentage (57.3) and 3-point percentage (40.3).
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Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said Toppin had “a phenomenal game” in Thursday’s closeout win against the Bucks, with 21 points on 8-for-15 shooting with eight rebounds and one blocked shot in 24 minutes.
“I thought Obi came in and played with unbelievable energy … our bench’s energy was just flowing the whole game,” All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton said after the game.
Toppin’s previous playoff high was the 18 points he scored with Randle sidelined with an ankle injury in Game 1 against the Heat last April.
“I just tell [Toppin] that in the open floor, there’s not many guys in the NBA that can really challenge him at the rim,” veteran teammate T.J. McConnell said. “When he’s running the way he does, he just takes our group to another level. He’s a special player, his ability to shoot the ball and get out and run and create mismatches in transition and go catch lobs.”
The 26-year-old Toppin’s younger brother, Jacob, is on the Knicks’ roster but didn’t play in the first round.
They shared the court for the first time in the NBA on Dec. 30 in Indianapolis, the day the Knicks were shorthanded due to the trade of RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to Toronto for OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa.
