The Indiana Pacers are going back to the NBA Finals.
Indiana defeated the New York Knicks in Game 6 on May 31, 125-108. Pascal Siakam led the way with 31 points. Tyrese Haliburton had 21 points and 13 assists.
Here is Dustin Dopirak’s quick story from the game, and buy our commemorative book on the Pacers’ run to the NBA Finals. Also, check out the NBA Finals schedule, what to know about the Oklahoma City Thunder and which team has the edge in the finals. We’ll have more coverage soon.
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Final: OG Anunoby made a 3-pointer. Pascal Siakam subsequently threw down a dunk. Karl-Anthony Towns made a layup at 3:30. Siakam’s jumper at 1:23 gave Indiana a 20-point lead. Tyrese Haliburton drilled a 3 at 0:59.1.
Pacers 125, Knicks 108
4:20 left 4Q: OG Anunoby made a shot at 10:15. Knicks have scored six straight to open the fourth. Obi Toppin stopped the run with two free throws. Karl-Anthony Towns made 1-of-2 free throws at 9:12. Aaron Nesmith was subbed out of the game holding his left knee.
Andrew Nembhard made a jumper at 8:54. Nembhard followed that up with another basket at 8:26. Pacers lead 98-84. Towns scored on a layup. Tyrese Haliburton answered with a layup of his own. Jalen Brunson scored, then Obi Toppin made a layup. Myles Turner made a layup at 6:53.
Turner picked up his fifth foul at 6:38. Towns made both free-throw attempts. Haliburton answered with a jumper. Brunson responded with a basket. Haliburton scored again. So did Towns. At 5:05, Haliburton scored on a floating jumper. Nembhard drilled a 3 at 4:22
Pacers 113, Knicks 94
11:23 left 4Q: The Knicks opened the fourth on a 4-0 run. Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby both scored. A timeout was called with Jarace Walker down on the floor. Walker hurt his ankle and is in the locker room.
Pacers 92, Knicks 81
End of 3Q: Karl-Anthony Towns made 1-of-2 free throws at 5:04. Aaron Nesmith dunked at 4:34. Thomas Bryant made two free throws to give the Pacers an 82-71 lead.
T.J. McConnell hit a 3 for Indiana at 3:34. Pascal Siakam scored at 2:55. Josh Hart made a basket at 2:05 for the Knicks. He was fouled on the play and missed the free-throw attempt.
Miles McBride made two free throws at 1:18. Obi Toppin hit a 3-pointer with 35.1 seconds remaining in the quarter. Josh Hart was fouled and made both free-throw attempts. Tyrese Haliburton threw down a dunk at 0:09.1.
Pacers 92, Knicks 77
5:46 left 3Q: Knicks came out of the timeout on a 7-0 run. OG Anunoby made a 3 in that span.
Pacers 78, Knicks 70
6:42 left 3Q: The Knicks rattled off four straight points. Pascal Siak scored on a tip shot at 9:06. Jalen Brunson answered with a 3-pointer at 8:53.
Thomas Bryant hit a 3 at 8:10. Pacers lead 72-61. Brunson responded with a jumper. At 7:19, Andrew Nembhard drilled a 3. Bryant made his third 3 of the game at 6:44.
Pacers 78, Knicks 63
10:02 left 3Q: Pascal Siakam and Aaron Nesmith hit 3-pointers to open the third quarter. Pacers lead 64-54. Siakam scored on a tip shot at 10:02. He made the free throw after the timeout.
Siakam has 21 points. Tyrese Haliburton has eight points and seven assists.
Pacers 67, Knicks 54
Halftime: OG Anunoby made two free throw at 3:02. Tyrese Haliburton made a shot at 2:52. Mikal Bridges answered with a jumper at 2:28. Pascal Siakam scored at 2:23, but Bridges responded with a layup. Pacers lead 51-48.
Jalen Brunson scored at 1:21. Pascal Siakam made both free-throw attempts at 1:00. Karl-Anthony Towns made a layup with 45 seconds left. Myles Turner made a 3 with 30.1 seconds remaining. Pascal Siakam hit a shot at 0:06. Anunoby made a jumper at the buzzer.
Pacers 58, Knicks 54
3:02 left 2Q: Karl-Anthony Towns scored on a floating jumper at 7:26. Towns went to the free-throw line and made both attempts. Tyrese Haliburton made a free throw at 6:36.
OG Anunoby cut Indiana’s lead to one with a 16-foot jumper at 5:38. Pascal Siakam went to the free-throw line and made 1-of-2. Aaron Nesmith picked up his third foul at 5:09. Jarace Walker came into the game for Nesmith.
Mikal Bridges made both free-throw attempts. It’s tied at 41-41. Walker broke the tie with a dunk at 4:38. Jalen Brunson made 1-of-2 free throws. Andrew Nembhard hit a pullup jumper at 4:15. Haliburton threw down a dunk at 3:53.
Pacers 47, Knicks 42
7:36 left 2Q: Obi Toppin made a 3-pointer at 8:52. Pacers are 6-of-10 from 3-point range. Tyrese Haliburton drilled a 3 at 7:45. Indiana is now 7-of-11 from 3-point range.
Pacers 39, Knicks 33
9:13 left 2Q: Pascal Siakam opened the quarter with a 3-pointer. Landry Shamet answered with a 3-pointer of his own. Siakam went to the free-throw line and made 1-of-2. Bennedict Mathurin went to the charity stripe and made both attempts.
At 10:20, OG Anunoby threw down a dunk for the Knicks. Mathurin made a jumper at 10:02. Anunoby responded with a layup. The Knicks tied it at 33-33 after another Anunoby basket at 9:14.
Pacers 33, Knicks 33
End of 1Q: Delon Wright went to the free-throw line at 0:26.1 and made both attempts. Tyrese Haliburton missed a jumper and Obi Toppin missed the tip-in at the end of the quarter.
Pacers 25, Knicks 24
1:18 left 1Q: Jalen Brunson tied it at 20-20 with a 3-pointer at 3:34. New York took the lead at 2:31 with a dunk by Mitchell Robinson. The Pacers snatched the lead back with a 3-pointer by Thomas Bryant at 1:52. Obi Toppin followed that with a layup at 1:25.
Pacers 25, Knicks 22
6:30 left 1Q: Aaron Nesmith hit a 3 for the Pacers. That was followed by a 3 from Pascal Siakam. Pacers lead 12-11 with 6:58 left. Siakam made another basket at 7:34. Myles Turner drilled a 3-pointer at 7:02.
Pacers 15, Knicks 11
(All games ET; *-if necessary)
Game 1, May 21: Pacers 138, Knicks 135, OT
Game 2, May 23: Pacers 114, Knicks 109
Game 3, May 25: Knicks 106, Pacers 100
Game 4, May 27: Pacers 130, Knicks 121
Game 5, May 29: Knicks 111, Pacers 94
Game 6, Sat., May 31: at Pacers, 8 p.m., TNT
*-Game 7, Mon., June 2: at Knicks, 8 p.m., TNT
TV: TNT, with Kevin Harlan (play-by-play), Reggie Miller and Stan Van Gundy (analysis) and Allie LaForce (sideline reporting)
Watch the Eastern Conference Finals on Sling
93.5 and 107.5 FM in Indianapolis, with Mark Boyle (play-by-play), Eddie Gill (analysis) and Pat Boylan (sideline reporting). Game 5 streaming is on SiriusXM channels 86 and 81 (Knicks feed).
via BetMGM
Favorite: Pacers by 3.5 points
Over/under: 219.5 total points
Moneyline: Pacers -175, Knicks +145
ESPN’s matchup predictor gives the Pacers a 58.0% chance of winning.
Pacers: Tony Bradley (hip) is TBA; Isaiah Jackson (Achilles) is out.
Knicks: None
