INDIANAPOLIS — Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton made sure the Indiana Pacers gave their fans a celebration they waited 25 years to see again.
Siakam had 31 points and Haliburton scored 11 of his 21 in the fourth quarter, carrying the Pacers to a 125-108 victory over the New York Knicks on Saturday night for a 4-2 series win and their first trip to the NBA Finals since 2000.
It’s just the second time in franchise history that they’ll play for the championship. The series against the Thunder begins Thursday in Oklahoma City.
“Pascal and Tyrese put us on their backs and made sure we would not lose,” coach Rick Carlisle told the gold-clad crowd that was on its feet for the waning minutes and the postgame party. “But our work has just begun.”
Siakam won the Larry Bird Trophy as the Eastern Conference finals MVP. Bird is the only other coach to take the Pacers to the NBA Finals. Haliburton finished with 13 assists and Obi Toppin added 18 points and six rebounds against his former team.
OG Anunoby led the Knicks with 24 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 points and 14 rebounds and Jalen Brunson added 19 points as the Pacers’ relentless ball pressure forced New York into 17 turnovers.
“There were stretches where we played very good defense and stretches where we didn’t,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I think once you dig into it and you look at, was it our defense? Or was it our turnovers? I think it was probably a combination of both.”
Whatever the explanation, the Knicks are headed home again courtesy of the Pacers. The Knicks haven’t played in the finals since 1999.
It was a magical night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse — from the festive pregame atmosphere through the roaring ovation for the starters as they departed with 47.2 seconds to go to Reggie Miller’s presentation of the Eastern Conference’s Bob Cousy Trophy to Pacers owner Herb Simon on TNT’s final NBA broadcast. Miller was one of the telecast’s color analysts.
Yet it was a tough, physical game that didn’t always follow the Pacers’ preferred style.
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.
The Pacers finally broke open a close game by opening the second half on a 9-0 run, then extended their lead to 78-63 courtesy of three straight 3-pointers — two from Thomas Bryant and one from Andrew Nembhard. The run ignited the crowd, which included Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson, WNBA star Caitlin Clark and Kylie Jenner.
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, and the Knicks were forced to play catch-up the rest of the night.
“This is no time to be popping champagne,” said Carlisle, who won the 2011 title as coach of the Dallas Mavericks. “When you get to this point of the season, it’s two teams and it’s one goal. So it becomes an all-or-nothing thing and we understand the magnitude of it.”