NBA playoff result and takeaways: Pascal Siakam dominates as Pacers take 2-0 lead over Knicks

In the 50th postseason showdown between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks, the Pacers, powered by Pascal Siakam’s 39-point performance, stunned New York 114-109 in Game 2 on Friday in Madison Square Garden, stealing both road games to grab a 2-0 lead in this Eastern Conference finals series.

This win was not as dramatic as Wednesday night’s, when the Pacers rallied from a 9-point deficit in the final minute of regulation to steal Game 1 in overtime. It might have been just as devastating for New York’s chances of advancing to its first NBA Finals since 1999. Meanwhile, the Pacers have won six straight road playoff games and are two wins away from their first NBA Finals appearance in 25 years.

New York led for large stretches of the first half, but Indiana, led by Siakam, cut into the Knicks’ lead. The score was tied at 81 going into the fourth quarter, with Siakam accounting for 32 of Indiana’s points. The Pacers took control early in the fourth quarter and held off a late Knicks rally to earn the win.

New York’s big three of Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges combined for 76 points. Brunson scored 36 and notched 11 assists but missed a score-tying 3-point attempt with 9 seconds left that sealed New York’s fate. Towns, who had 20 points, sat out for a large stretch of the fourth quarter as Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau went with center Mitchell Robinson in his place.

Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton finished with a double-double (14 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists), his seventh of the playoffs.

The Knicks will look to get a win in this series in Game 3, which will take place at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday in Indianapolis.

PASCAL SIAKAM DROPS A PLAYOFF-CAREER HIGH 39 POINTS 🔥

PACERS TAKE 2-0 EAST FINALS LEAD 📈👀

6 straight road playoff wins for Indiana! pic.twitter.com/3X2F5ZaGkw

— NBA (@NBA) May 24, 2025

Pascal Siakam’s signature Pacers moment

Simply put, Siakam wouldn’t let the Pacers be denied. The nine-year veteran posted a postseason career-best 39 points on 15-of-23 shooting from the field, 3-of-5 from 3 and 6-for-8 from the free-throw line. He added five rebounds, three assists and a steal en route to his biggest win with Indiana.

He was the Pacers’ only player to score 20 or more points, although fellow big man Myles Turner aided Siakam with 16 points of his own. In typical Indiana fashion, this was a group effort with Siakam, Turner, Haliburton, Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell scoring in double figures. But make no mistake: Siakam, acquired last season in a trade with the Toronto Raptors, was the one who led it.

As the Pacers have shown time and time again during this postseason run, they are for real. They head back to Gainbridge Fieldhouse with a 2-0 lead and an arena full of fans sure to be beside themselves at the thought of their team being two wins away from their first trip to the NBA Finals since 2000. — Hunter Patterson, NBA staff writer

The stretch that won Indiana the game

The turning point of Game 2 occurred immediately after the end of the third quarter, with the score tied at 81. To begin the fourth quarter, Thibodeau subbed out Brunson, who already had played 30 of the game’s 36 minutes.

Indiana took control of the game during the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, going on a 13-4 run. By the time Thibodeau put Brunson back into the game with nine minutes remaining, New York trailed 94-85.

This isn’t meant to rip Thibodeau. At some point, he had to give Brunson some rest for what he initially figured would be a tight game up to the end. But Brunson’s absence proved costly. — Josh Robbins, senior NBA writer

“That’s what I love so much about this team, we don’t care who scores, we just want to win the game…Another night it’s going to be somebody else, that’s what makes us special.”

Pascal Siakam with Allie LaForce after dropping a playoff career-high 39 points in our Game 2 win in… pic.twitter.com/wj4XIPTuc6

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 24, 2025

Another Knicks crunch-time failure

For the second consecutive game, the Knicks’ fourth-quarter execution did them in.

After the collapse of a lifetime to begin the Eastern Conference finals, a squandered 14-point lead with less than three minutes to go in Game 1, a possible comeback in Game 2 became too bumpy.

With more than 30 seconds to go in the game and the Knicks whittling down Indiana’s advantage to 3, Brunson dribbled the ball upcourt. New York would have served itself best by moving quickly, prioritizing any action that could have yielded a 3-pointer. The Knicks didn’t need to chuck up any 3 indiscriminately. If it wasn’t there, they could go elsewhere.

Instead, they went too slow and ended up with the wrong shot. They drained the entire clock, mostly with Brunson dribbling around the perimeter, until he found Josh Hart for a layup with less than 15 seconds to go.

Brunson committed a foul on the inbounds pass, which could have been a turnover had the point guard not grasped a handful of Nesmith’s jersey. Nesmith drilled two free throws to make it a 3-point game. Brunson rushed up the court and chucked a deep, would-be-tying 3-pointer that erred with seven seconds to go.

The Knicks propelled themselves to the conference finals with late-game heroics over the first two rounds of the playoffs. They employ the NBA Clutch Player of the Year in Brunson. But the Pacers have made a habit of storming back late and holding on to tight games when needed. And that’s why they are two games away from the finals.

New York hasn’t operated smoothly enough when it has mattered most. — Fred Katz, NBA national writer

Mitch over KAT? Knicks have a lineup dilemma

Robinson was fantastic again in this game. His stat line might not have been amazing — 6 points and nine rebounds — but he was a force and created a lot of extra possessions for the Knicks. He also played 29 minutes, which was his second-highest total this season, and Thibodeau left him on the floor deep into the fourth quarter in place of Towns.

It was an interesting decision and a noteworthy one; benching a max player like Towns in the fourth quarter of a conference finals game usually is. Towns was a game-worst minus-20 in 28 minutes despite notching 20 points and 7 points.

The Knicks’ starting lineup has been severely outplayed this whole series and in these playoffs. In the fourth quarter of Game 2, Thibodeau decided he needed to make a change. Towns left with nine minutes left in the game and didn’t come back in until the 2:25 mark, when the Knicks were scrambling to come back from what had been a double-digit deficit.

This will be worth monitoring in this series. Will Thibodeau make a starting lineup change? Will Robinson earn a larger minute split? Can Towns play better, especially defensively? The Knicks will need to make some tweaks to pull off a comeback in this series, so something will have to give. — Mike Vorkunov, NBA national writer

New York’s daunting task

Forgive me for being Captain Obvious here, but Game 3 in Indianapolis will be a must-win for the Knicks. No team in NBA history has ever won a best-of-seven series after it lost the opening three games. Entering this postseason, 157 teams had faced an 0-3 deficit, and none of them won their series. —Robbins

(Top photo: Wendell Cruz / Imagn Images)

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