The Indiana Pacers are looking to make history.
For only the second time in franchise history, the team has moved on to the NBA Finals, where the Oklahoma City Thunder await.
The Pacers, who have never won an NBA title, dispatched the Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals Saturday night in six games behind their tempo, shot-making and improved defense.
Forward Pascal Siakam dropped 31 points and Tyrese Haliburton added 21 and 13 assists.
The Knicks kept things close until a decisive third quarter in which the Pacers outscored New York by 11. Jalen Brunson, New York’s top offensive threat, was the team’s third-leading scorer with 19 points.
Winners and losers from the closeout game of the Eastern Conference finals between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks:
WINNERS
The Pacers spread the wealth
In Game 5 Thursday night, the only starter for the Pacers to score in double figures was forward Pascal Siakam, who recorded just 15 points. In Game 6 on Saturday night, it was a very different story. Seven Pacers — and all five starters — reached double figures, with Siakam leading the way with 31 points. Indiana whipped the ball around the floor, moving it far more efficiently than it did two nights previous, and the speed of the Pacers passes left the Knicks struggling to catch up.
In Game 5, Indiana recorded just 20 assists, with All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton getting just six. Saturday, the Pacers dished out 30 dimes, 13 of which were Haliburton’s.
Andrew Nembhard
He had a rough series offensively, there’s no question, but Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard took on the assignment of guarding Jalen Brunson with determination. With Aaron Nesmith slowed by his ankle injury, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle switched things up early in Game 6, putting Nembhard on Brunson.
Nembhard responded by bodying Brunson, guarding him all 90 feet and making him feel constant pressure. In the first half, Brunson shot just 4-of-10 from the field for 10 points. Nembhard finished with six steals.
Thomas Bryant
He lost his minutes to fellow Pacers big man Tony Bradley, but a hip injury to Bradley thrust Bryant back into the rotation for Game 6. He responded with an energy-filled 11-point performance in just 13 minutes on the floor. The third quarter, when the Pacers pulled away from the Knicks, was when Bryant shined brightest, scoring eight of his 11 points in the period and draining a pair of massive 3s.
LOSERS
New York’s ball security
Give the Pacers plenty of credit for swarming and harassing ball handlers and jumping gaps to steal passes, but New York’s careless approach with the ball cost the Knicks the game. New York committed 18 turnovers that led to 34 Pacers points.
The Pacers turned those turnovers into quick offense, firing passes up the floor, often to players streaking wide open to the basket.
New York’s transition defense
Whether it was cumulative fatigue from six games of trying to match the tempo of the Pacers, or whether it was a lack of attention to detail, the Knicks simply conceded far too many attempts for the Pacers in transition. This had been an issue throughout the Eastern Conference finals. The Pacers are known for getting players sprinting down the floor for open layups, even after opponents convert field goals.
The concern for New York was that it did not adjust to this over the course of the game. In fact, if anything, the Pacers leaned into their speed in the second half. No player benefitted from this more than Pascal Siakam, who all series long got easy layups after his teammates launched passes to him after he had leaked out; four of his first seven field goals were layups in transition. Overall, the Pacers outscored New York in transition, 25-10.
New York’s perimeter defense
Inexcusably, the Knicks also took a lax approach to defending Indiana’s perimeter shots, allowing multiple players to get uncontested looks and failing to close out. A lot of this happened when Knicks players — center Karl-Anthony Towns in particular — went under screens or lacked the effort and intensity to meet Indiana’s shooters. The Pacers attacked this repeatedly, calling for pick-and-rolls when Towns was the secondary defender.
Indiana shot 17-of-33 (51.5%) from beyond the arc. And, since the Knicks made only 9-of-32 (28.1%) shots from 3, that means the Pacers carried a 24-point advantage from deep.