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The Indiana Pacers beat the New York Knicks 125-108, winning seven Eastern Conference Finals in six games, and reaching the franchise’s first NBA Finals since 2000.
It was another fierce battle between the two teams until the Pacers were pulled away in the final quarter. Like most playoffs, the Pascal Siakam and Tyrees Halliburton duo finished with 31 and 21 points respectively.
This series with at least 25 points was Siakam’s third game, winning the Larry Bird Trophy for him.
“It’s been such a great experience for me so far,” Siakam told TNT Sports Broadcast about his time at Indy. “From the first day when Love landed here in surprise… a first class organization. I’m very happy to be here. After a bad game 5 tonight, we wanted our teammates to have 100% belief.
The game also marked a historic moment in the broadcast. Pacer’s victory was the last game of long-standing relationships between the NBA and TNT. “Inside the NBA” will continue on ESPN, but TNT’s NBA ended with the culmination of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Both teams kept it closed in the first half, swapping baskets despite the Knicks’ departure issues despite plaguing the entire game.
This made the difference for a fast-paced team, running 9-0 to open the third quarter from three consecutive three pointers.
From there, the Gainbridge Field House crowd featuring WNBA star Kate Linklerk cried out the Pacers all the way to the end.
Halliburton said he was “really proud” of the way his team played.
“We were showing our last game as a group, so we wanted to respond, and we did an amazing job with that,” Halliburton told TNT Sports Broadcasting.
“I don’t even have words. It’s really exciting. We’ve enjoyed this for now and there’s a lot to do for a really tough team. I’m really proud of this group.”
It was a tough night for Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns’ Knicks All-Star duo. Towns finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds, while Branson added 19 points.
New York struggled to defend Indiana, leading to 17 turnovers as a team. Pacers guard Andrew Nenbird had the game high 6 steel.
Despite the Knicks appearing to return to the game many times, Indiana proved to be too much to handle as New York’s attempts to become the 14th team in NBA history to return from a 3-1 series deficit.
The Knicks, who have not won a title since 1973, were once again eliminated by a team considering one of their biggest rivals, not to mention they would advance to the finals from 1999.
The two teams met eight times in the playoffs in their history, including six in the eight years from 1993 to 2000. Last year, Indiana defeated New York in Game 7 at Madison Square Garden, setting an NBA record with the highest field goal percentage ever in the NBA game, converting 67.1% of the shots.
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau added late to the spinning when asked how to take the next step and move on to the final, pointing out all the adversity the team faced this season.
“I’m proud of what these guys did,” Thibodeau told reporters. “There were a lot of things we had to go through and we thought we handled that part well. … There are a lot of moving parts, but they kept fighting and moving forward, and I admire it a lot.”
Branson, 28, did not write down words about another loss to the Pacers.
“Most confident. Overconfident. Seriously. I have no ounce of doubt that I am not confident in this group,” Branson said.
The town added that the Knicks made was to “win.”
“It hurts not to bring opportunities to the city for the championship,” Towns said. “We’ve got a lot of great people in that locker room. We want to. The plan now is to put ourselves in this position again and make the next one a success.”
The Pacers will then face a tall task, playing in their second final, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the NBA’s best regular-season team, in the Oklahoma City Thunder, which will begin on Thursday at Paycom Center.
This story has been updated with additional reports.