INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers took advantage of a second chance to eliminate the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals at home on Saturday night.
Indiana will make their the second NBA Finals appearance in franchise history and the first in 25 years.
ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch
Ahead of Saturday’s games, the Pacers led the series 3-2 after losing Game 5 to the Knicks 111-94 on Thursday.
The Pacers will open the NBA Finals on Thursday at Oklahoma City.
Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton was 11-2 all-time in playoff home games. He had a historic stat line in his most recent contest at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, finishing with 32 points, 15 assists, 12 rebounds, four steals and no turnovers Tuesday.
The two-time All-Star became the first player to record at least 30 points, 15 assists, 10 rebounds and have no turnovers in a playoff game since turnovers were first tracked in 1977-78. And he did it in front of his father, John, who had an eight-game ban lifted following his on-court confrontation with Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo when his son’s last-second layup eliminated the Bucks in their first-round series.
New York lost the first two games of this series at home but has rebounded to win two of the last three since inserting Mitchell Robinson into the starting lineup. Coach Tom Thibodeau expanded New York’s rotation and All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns started driving to the basket more frequently.
Towns has averaged 24 points and 13.3 rebounds in the last three games while All-Star guard Jalen Brunson has averaged 28.7 points over that span. Brunson also has topped the 30-point mark in each of the last two to extend the Knicks’ postseason record for most 30-point games in franchise history with 21.
New York is trying to become the 14th team in league history to rally from a 3-1 deficit to win a series. It hasn’t reached the finals since 1999 and hasn’t won a title since 1973.
The road team won each of the first three games in this series while the home team has prevailed in each of the last two.
Copyright © 2025 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
