INDIANAPOLIS – Pascal Siakam scored 31 points to lead the Pacers to a 125-109 win over the Knicks in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Saturday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, leading them to their first NBA Finals berth since 2000 and just the second in franchise history.
The Pacers won the series 4-2. They will play the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Finals with Game 1 coming on Thursday in Oklahoma City.
All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton posted 21 points and 13 assists. Forward Obi Toppin had 18 points. Andrew Nembhard had 14 points, eight assists and six steals.
Pascal Siakam proves MVP worthy performance
In Game 5, Pascal Siakam seemed to be trying to do everything he possibly could to jump start the Pacers offense but they never could get the engine to turn over in a 111-94 loss.
On Saturday, however, he made sure it rolled by forcing the Pacers’ transition game into existence, leaking out at every possible opportunity to either get clean lanes to the basket or one-on-one matchups by himself on the other end of floor he could exploit. He didn’t need as much of his mid-range game as he normally does — though he still hit a few of his shots from that distance — because five of his 10 buckets game at the rim. He was also 3 of 5 from 3-point range and finished with 31 points on 10 of 18 shooting. He also had three assists and made an impact on defense with and three blocks.
It was Siakam’s third game this series with at least 25 points in the series.
Pacers turn defense into offense
Throughout the course of the Pacers’ rebuild, the offense was for most of the time far ahead of the defense and for much of last season, the Pacers relied on just hoping to outscore people because they had one of the NBA’s most porous defenses.
But throughout this season, the defense made leaps, so it was fitting that on the night the Pacers earned their first NBA Finals berth in 25 years it was defense that made it happen.
The Pacers had a hard time getting moving in transition in Game 5, but that wasn’t a problem in Game 6 because the Pacers get getting live-ball turnovers that led to easy runouts. The Pacers caused 18 Knicks turnovers with 10 steals and turned those into 34 points off turnovers.
Andrew Nembhard, who switched defensive assignments onto Jalen Brunson for much of the night, led the charge with six steals. Tyrese Haliburton had three and Pascal Siakam also had one.
Nembhard’s steals were part of an overall strong performance from him after struggles since Game 3 of this series. He finished with 14 points on 6 of 12 shooting.
Thomas Bryant provides spark with 3s
After a strong performance in the closeout game of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Cleveland, Thomas Bryant had effectively moved back to the third spot on the Pacers center depth chart in this series as Rick Carlisle was particularly pleased with the play of third-stringer Tony Bradley against Knicks center Mitchell Robinson. Bryant played 12 minutes and 55 seconds in Game 1 of the series, but just 4:27 in Game 2 and 4:57 in Game 5 with DNPs in Games 3 and 4.
However, Tony Bradley strained his hip in Game 5, and though he was available on Saturday, Rick Carlisle called him a “in-game decision” in terms of whether he would actually play. Myles Turner got into foul trouble relatively early and Bryant had to step in and he came through big especially from outside. Bryant hit a 3 not long after he checked in in the first quarter and hit two in relatively quick succession when he came in in the third.
