NEW YORK — The Indiana Pacers are going home with a commanding 2-0 lead in the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals after again silencing the Madison Square Garden crowd with a 114-109 victory over the New York Knicks on Friday.
Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 39 points as all five Indiana starters scored in double figures. The Knicks will try to come back from an 0-2 deficit to make it to the Finals. These very Pacers pulled off the trick last season against the Knicks in the semifinal round and won Game 7 in New York to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
Winners and losers from Pacers vs. Knicks Game 2
WINNERS
Pascal Siakam
The Pacers’ power forward came out strong, scoring 23 points in the first half to handle the early scoring load as Indiana took an early 10-point lead. He finished with 39 points (15-of-23 FG, 3-of-5 3-point FG) and carried the team for the majority of the game until the rest of the starters picked it up in the second half. Siakam, who helped lead the Toronto Raptors to the 2019 NBA championship, set a playoff career high. Tyrese Haliburton, who only scored two points in the first half, finished with 14 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.
LOSERS
Knicks’ home-court advantage
Just like the world champion Boston Celtics did in the semifinals, this time it was the Knicks’ opportunity to squander the first two games at home and find themselves having to win four of the next five games to advance to their first NBA Finals since 1999. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the reserves couldn’t keep the game close, and Jalen Brunson, who had 36 points and 11 assists, couldn’t bring the Knicks back.
Knicks’ interior defense
The Pacers’ ability to get to the paint almost at will hurt the Knicks, especially in the fourth quarter. Indiana took advantage of New York’s smaller guards, and when they weren’t scoring with uncontested layups or getting fouled, the Pacers’ outside shooters capitalized.
Josh Hart
The do-everything guard for the Knicks was a non-factor, getting into foul trouble early and never finding his groove. He finished with six points on 2-of-3 shooting and six rebounds in 29 minutes of action.
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