Pacers Insiders break down Game 6 win to New York Knicks in Indianapolis
IndyStar's Dustin Dopirak and Kyle Neddenriep break down the Indiana Pacers' Game 6 win to the New York Knicks.
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
SuperSonics fans feel no allegiance to the Thunder in these NBA Finals. Go Pacers, the scornful say
Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton celebrates after a teammate made a 3-pointer during the second half of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the New York Knicks in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast) Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) reacts during the second half of Game 5 of the Western Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips) FILE - A skateboarder leaps onto a platform in front of KeyArena, a sports and entertainment venue and former home of the Seattle SuperSonics NBA basketball tean, Dec. 4, 2017, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) FILE - Stacks of Seattle SuperSonics caps are displayed in a shop, Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in Seattle, near where a proposed basketball arena is to be built. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) FILE - Stacks of Seattle SuperSonics caps are displayed in a shop, Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in Seattle, near where a proposed basketball arena is to be built. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton celebrates after a teammate made a 3-pointer during the second half of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the New York Knicks in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast) Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) reacts during the second half of Game 5 of the Western Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips) FILE - A skateboarder leaps onto a platform in front of KeyArena, a sports and entertainment venue and former home of the Seattle SuperSonics NBA basketball tean, Dec. 4, 2017, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) FILE - Stacks of Seattle SuperSonics caps are displayed in a shop, Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in Seattle, near where a proposed basketball arena is to be built. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) SEATTLE (AP) — It's logical to think someone like Danny Ball is a fair representation of Seattle these days. Ball, a hoops fan who runs an Instagram account called 'Iconic Sonics,' is pulling for the Indiana Pacers over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals. Advertisement There are no deep ties between Seattle and Indianapolis. The Seahawks play the Colts this December, so the cities will be foes that weekend. Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever probably won't be warmly welcomed when they visit the Emerald City later this month to play the Seattle Storm. But right now, Seattle may as well be an Indy suburb. Seattle fans lost their NBA franchise, the SuperSonics, in 2008 when it was stolen from them and rebranded in Oklahoma City. For the scornful, that means one thing: Go Pacers. 'I'd love to see the Pacers pull it off in six games,' Ball said. The NBA Finals begin Thursday night. For some in Seattle, it'll be a heaping helping of fresh salt on the wounds that opened when the Sonics were taken away. And people like Ball, who grew up in Seattle hearing stories of Sonics legends like Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton, aren't exactly rooting for Oklahoma City right now. Advertisement The Thunder are heavy favorites to beat the Pacers. Should they pull it off, the Thunder would claim their first NBA title in Oklahoma City, but technically their second as a franchise after Seattle won the title in 1979. It's no secret the city wants the league to come back. Expansion is on the NBA's to-do list, and it's likely that talks — the first of many, many steps in this process — could start in earnest with interested cities in the next few months. Commissioner Adam Silver, however, hasn't fully committed to adding new teams. 'The issue I would not have anticipated at the time I sort of began talking about the timeline is how much unknown there is about local media right now,' Silver said earlier this year. 'Having said that, though, I would just say again to our many fans in Seattle, and I hear from them often, and the legacy of the Sonics is still very strong and it's a fantastic basketball market, is that we are very focused on it. … We don't take those fans for granted. We're thankful that the interest has remained over all these years.' Any mention of expansion sends fans into a tizzy. Steve Ballmer, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, spoke to the crowd before a preseason game in Seattle — his hometown — in 2023, and made a thinly veiled reference to how fans need to remind the league's New York office how much the city loves the game. Advertisement 'All night long, it better be loud enough in this building to hear us all the way back in New York, if you get me,' Ballmer told the crowd. 'Let's make sure we're loud tonight.' And then came the Ballmer bellow: 'Go Seattle,' he screamed. It's something Seattle takes seriously, as Mayor Bruce Harrell learned earlier this year in his address to the city. 'Right now, at this moment, I have an announcement to make,' Harrell said, reaching into the lectern where he was standing and pulling out a basketball, spinning it in his hands as he displayed it to the crowd — which began roaring. 'Ah, I'm just kidding.' Advertisement The crowd wasn't amused. Harrell later was interviewed by Seattle's KOMO News and apologized for the attempt at humor, getting reminded that residents of the city aren't happy that the NBA hasn't returned yet. 'Count me among them,' Harrell said. A very real void has been left in the SuperSonics' absence. The NHL's Seattle Kraken entering the fold has helped, as has the success of the WNBA's Seattle Storm, both of whom play at Climate Pledge Arena, which sits on the site of the SuperSonics' former home. That same arena received a significant remodel ahead of the Kraken arriving, which could make it suitable for NBA games. That would ultimately be up to the association to decide one day, but Ball hopes it would be the Sonics' former home in the Queen Anne neighborhood they get to triumphantly return to one day. Advertisement 'A lot of Sonics fans that I know I'm sure never got over the wounds of what happened here 17 years ago with them leaving (for) Oklahoma City,' SuperSonics fan Eric Phan said. 'All of the Sonics fanbase (is) rooting for the Indiana Pacers.' Seattle seemed to have a chance at getting a team back in 2013 when the Maloof family put the Sacramento Kings up for sale. But investor Chris Hansen's bid to relocate the team to Seattle was rejected by the NBA's Board of Governors. For fans like Ball and Phan, hope lives on. Ball recognizes that's partially because he is an inherently positive person, and he's hoping for a Hollywood ending. 'It would be poetic if the year that OKC wins the finals — if that occurs — is in the same summer that the league comes out and says, 'Hey, we're forming an expansion committee to start really exploring this process,'' Ball said. 'I think that would help damper or therapize the feelings and emotions that would come along with seeing the Thunder hoist the Larry O'Brien.' Advertisement Phan pointed out that just because the Sonics don't play in Seattle, it doesn't mean the team is truly gone. 'You can see people walking the sidewalks and streets of Seattle, and even the suburbs,' Phan said. 'People are wearing Sonics gear like they never really left.' ___ AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Oklahoma City contributed. ___ AP NBA:
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Kevin O'Connor drops wild Karl-Anthony Towns trade take after Knicks ECF loss
The post Kevin O'Connor drops wild Karl-Anthony Towns trade take after Knicks ECF loss appeared first on ClutchPoints. The New York Knicks 2024-25 campaign came to an end on Saturday night, as they were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers after suffering a 125-108 loss in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference Finals series. While there were several reasons for the Knicks defeat, all eyes turned to star center Karl-Anthony Towns, with popular NBA analyst Kevin O'Connor dropping a shocking trade take ahead of the offseason. Advertisement Ahead of the season, New York pulled off a shocking trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves that landed them Towns, and while he enjoyed a strong season, he was picked on constantly during the playoffs. That was never more apparent than during their series against Indiana, as Towns had a massive target on his back every time he was on defense. And while the Knicks just traded for Towns less than a year ago, O'Connor thinks they need to move on from him this offseason. 'Trading KAT should be priority #1 for the Knicks,' O'Connor said in a post on X in the immediate aftermath of New York's Game 6 loss. Should Knicks trade Karl-Anthony Towns this offseason? Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images On paper, Towns enjoyed one of the best years of his career with the Knicks, as he averaged 24.4 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game while shooting 52.6% from the field during the regular season. New York also gave up a ton to acquire Towns, with Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Keita Bates-Diop, Charlie Brown, DaQuan Jeffries, Duane Washington Jr., and a pair of second-round draft picks being moved in order to bring him to town. A trip to the Eastern Conference Finals may not seem like a reason to blow up this team, but it's clear that it's going to be tough to win a title with Towns playing subpar defense in the paint. The Knicks have already hinted at big moves taking place this offseason in the wake of this loss, so who knows, maybe Towns may have already played his final game for New York, despite only getting acquired in October of last year.
New York Post
4 hours ago
- New York Post
‘Loser' label is far too harsh for Karl-Anthony Towns
On the June 3rd, 2025 edition of the Morning Take, Brandon London reacts to a WFAN host claiming that Karl-Anthony Towns is a losing basketball player after the Knicks were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
