Pacers Fan Faces Felony Charges After Alleged Stabbing of Knicks Supporters at Brewery

The Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks rivalry took a dark turn when a fan brawl at a Carmel, Indiana brewery left two Knicks supporters stabbed during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Jarrett Funke, a 24-year-old local, now faces three felony charges: battery with a deadly weapon, battery causing serious injury, and criminal recklessness. Court records paint a chaotic scene where Funke allegedly escalated a heated exchange by wielding a pocketknife.

According to reports, the trouble began when Funke knocked a Knicks hat off one victim’s head and hurled insults. A brief scuffle followed, with one Knicks fan flashing a knife to deter Funke but quickly pocketing it. Funke, however, didn’t back down. Witnesses say he retrieved his own knife, slashing one fan in the back and another in the leg after being pushed to the ground. Despite Funke’s claim that the Knicks fans started it, multiple onlookers pegged him as the primary aggressor.

Police arrived to find the victims wounded and Funke long gone, only to return later, prompting a second 911 call from a brewery employee. The Pacers, meanwhile, clinched a 2-0 series lead that night, though the Knicks roared back in Game 3, overcoming a 20-point deficit to keep the series alive. Game 4 looms in Indianapolis, but this off-court violence casts a shadow over the storied playoff rivalry, the ninth between these teams since the 1990s.

Sports rivalries are meant to ignite passion, but this incident is a grim reminder that fandom can cross into dangerous territory. When a game’s intensity spills into real-world harm, it’s not just a loss for the teams—it’s a loss for the spirit of competition.