Inside the growing rivalry between two of the best guards in the East - ESPN

Jalen Brunson vs. Tyrese Haliburton, two players already famous for being slighted, is a matchup ready for prime time that's currently in prime time. And naturally for the two of them, it still might be getting overlooked.

The unfolding drama in this New York Knicks-Indiana Pacers second-round series, which resumes with Sunday's Game 4 and the Knicks ahead 2-1, has many shiny objects, including history, competing for attention.

There have been three high-intensity fourth quarters in which the winning team has made a comeback; a stream of injuries; nightly officiating complaints; and the playoff heroics of role players such as Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo and Andrew Nembhard that have turned these games into immediate classics.

Of course, Brunson and Haliburton also have had their fingerprints all over the series. But what they're actually doing, engaging in an All-Star boxing match, has been getting lost in the rest of the noise. And it could be a preamble for a multiyear Eastern Conference battle: two lead guards on rising teams with a history longer than each of them has been alive.

«I don't think it's as much about me versus him as much as it is our teams versus each other,» Haliburton said after the Pacers pulled out a 111-106 victory in Game 3's final minute on Friday. «He's doing what he has to do for his team to win games, and I got to do that, as well, to give my team the best chance to win. So, it's less about matchup and who's scoring or who's doing what. That's for [fans] to talk about. We're just trying to win games.»

Despite dealing with a right foot injury that has forced him to come off the floor in both Games 2 and 3, Brunson is averaging 32.7 points and 5.7 assists on 50% shooting.

The foot injury