Pacers sink the Knicks to reach NBA Finals
Pascal Siakam has scored 31 points, Tyrese Haliburton had 21 points and 13 assists, and Indiana pulled away for a 125-108 victory over New York in the Eastern Conference Finals' Game 6 to reach the NBA Finals for the second time in franchise history.
Obi Toppin added 18 points and six rebounds against his former team as the gold-clad crowd gave the starters a roaring ovation when they departed with 47.2 seconds left.
The Pacers will visit Oklahoma City for Game 1 on Thursday night.
OG Anunoby led the Knicks on Saturday night with 24 points. Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 points and 14 rebounds, while Jalen Brunson added 19 points as Indiana's relentless ball pressure forced New York into 17 turnovers.
The Knicks still have not reached the Finals since 1999, and they couldn't extend the series in a game that was tough and physical right from the start.
Whether it was Towns limping after drawing a foul or Haliburton holding his jaw when he took a shot that knocked him to the ground, the tone was set early — and never really changed with so much at stake.
Indiana finally broke open a close game by starting the second half on a 9-0 run to take a 78-63 lead courtesy of three straight three-pointers — two from Thomas Bryant and one from Andrew Nembhard. The run ignited the crowd, which included everyone from Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson to WNBA star Caitlin Clark to Timothee Chalamet to Kylie Jenner.
But when the Knicks answered with eight straight to cut the deficit to 78-71, the Pacers responded with another 9-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game and New York were forced to play catch-up the rest of the night.
The Knicks, who haven't won a title since 1973, were trying to become the 14th team in league history to rally from a 3-1 deficit to win a series.
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Gilgeous-Alexander's first basket of the night was a history-maker. It gave him 3000 points on the season, including the regular season and playoffs. And later in Game 2, he passed New York's Jalen Brunson (514) as the leading overall scorer in these playoffs. But the real milestone for the MVP came a couple hours later, when he and most everybody else on the Thunder got a finals win for the first time. A 19-2 run in the second quarter turned what was a six-point game into a 23-point OKC lead. It might have seemed wobbly a couple of times — an immediate 10-0 rebuttal by Indiana made it 52-39, and the Pacers were within 13 again after Andrew Nembhard's layup with 7:09 left in the third — but the Thunder lead was never in serious doubt. Oklahoma City did what they've done pretty much all season. They came off a loss, this time a 111-110 defeat in Game 1, and blew somebody out as their response. 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That will take place on Wednesday at Indianapolis, in what will be the first finals game in that city in 25 years. Gilgeous-Alexander's first basket of the night was a history-maker. It gave him 3000 points on the season, including the regular season and playoffs. And later in Game 2, he passed New York's Jalen Brunson (514) as the leading overall scorer in these playoffs. But the real milestone for the MVP came a couple hours later, when he and most everybody else on the Thunder got a finals win for the first time. A 19-2 run in the second quarter turned what was a six-point game into a 23-point OKC lead. It might have seemed wobbly a couple of times — an immediate 10-0 rebuttal by Indiana made it 52-39, and the Pacers were within 13 again after Andrew Nembhard's layup with 7:09 left in the third — but the Thunder lead was never in serious doubt. Oklahoma City did what they've done pretty much all season. 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Oklahoma City did what they've done pretty much all season. They came off a loss, this time a 111-110 defeat in Game 1, and blew somebody out as their response. Including the NBA Cup title game, which doesn't count in any standings, the Thunder are now 18-2 this season when coming off a loss. Of those 18 wins, 12 have been by double digits.
