Indiana Pacers reach NBA finals after New York Knicks fall short
Siakam was the hero as the Indiana Pacers earned their first NBA finals appearance since 2000 with a solid 125-108 victory over the visiting New York Knicks in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals in Indianapolis.
Siakam recorded 31 points and three blocked shots to finish off a stellar series in which he was named MVP of the series. He was 10-of-18 shooting while recording his third 30-point outing of the series.
"So deserving," Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said of Siakam. "The guy has been a rock of consistency all year."
Indiana will face the Western Conference champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals. Game 1 tips off on Friday at 1.30am Irish time in Oklahoma City.
Siakam, a nine-year veteran, won a title in 2019 with the Toronto Raptors and his teammates will surely be asking him what they can expect.
"That year was my third year, I was this young kid. I thought it was going to be easy [to get back]," Siakam said. "I appreciate it even more now because I know how hard it is to get here."
Tyrese Haliburton added 21 points, 13 assists and three steals for fourth-seeded Indiana. Obi Toppin added 18 points off the bench and Andrew Nembhard had 14 points and six steals for the Pacers.
"It's a special feeling to do it with this group," Haliburton said. "We got to the same spot last year and we fell short. We worked our tails off to get back here."
OG Anunoby scored 24 points and Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points and 14 rebounds for third-seeded New York. Jalen Brunson had 19 points and seven assists and Mikal Bridges had 15 points for the Knicks.
Indiana had a 25-10 edge on fastbreak points to finish the series with a dominating advantage 106-48 in that category. New York committed 18 turnovers in the finale, including five apiece by Brunson and Bridges.
"I saw a lot of breakaways on their part," Brunson said. "It was the reason why they would extend the lead throughout the series. It's something I have to be able to control. ... It's terrible on my part."
The Pacers shot 54.1 percent from the field, including a solid 17 of 33 from 3-point range (51.5 percent). Myles Turner and reserve Thomas Bryant had 11 points apiece and Aaron Nesmith added 10 for the Pacers.
New York made 47.7 percent of its shots and was 9 of 32 (28.1 percent) from behind the arc. Landry Shamet had 12 points on four treys off the bench.
It was the first appearance in the Eastern Conference finals for the Knicks since 2000 when they also lost to the Pacers.
"I'm proud of what these guys did," Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. "There was a lot that we had to get through and I thought we handled that part well.
"The playoffs are hard-fought and these games can go either way. There's the disappointment of falling short of the ultimate goal but still proud of what we accomplished."
New York trailed by 15 entering the final quarter but a basket by Towns and two in a row by Anunoby pulled the Knicks within 92-83 with 10:15 remaining.
Haliburton then took over as he scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the final quarter. The Pacers pushed the lead back to 14 on a basket by Nembhard with 8:26 left.
Later, a basket by Haliburton and a three-pointer by Nembhard made it 113-94 with 4:22 left.
Siakam later made two free throws to make it 120-99 with 1:52 left as New York waved the white flag.
Indiana led by four at the break but started the third quarter with 3-pointers by Siakam and Nesmith and a three-point play by Siakam to take a 67-54 lead.
The Knicks were within 69-61 after Brunson's basket with 8:53 left in the period before Bryant (two) and Nembhard (one) combined for three treys in 86 seconds as the Pacers grabbed a 78-63 advantage with 6:44 remaining in the quarter.
Haliburton later ended the third with a dunk as the Pacers had a 34-23 edge over the 12 minutes to expand their lead to 92-77.
Siakam scored 16 first-half points to help the Pacers hold a 58-54 lead at the break. Anunoby scored 14 in the half for New York.
Though the Knicks saw their season end, Towns is convinced the team will make more deep postseason runs in the near future.
"It hurts not to bring an opportunity to the city for a championship," Towns said. "We have a lot of great guys in this locker room. The plan now is to put ourselves in this position again and succeed next time."
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