For further study of the numerous nice properties of topological indices in physical and chemical fields, it is worth considering the relation between a degree-based index and a distance-based index. With the fact that diameter is an invariant based on distance, the relations between atom-bond connectivity index, diameter in trees and unicyclic graphs are studied. Based on relative lemma, the relation between atom-bond connectivity index and diameter in tree and unicyclic graphs is investigated, then the sharp lower bounds of the difference of index and diameter are given.