Tyrese Haliburton, Pacers Beat Knicks to Reach NBA Finals as Fans Hype Thunder Matchup
The Indiana Pacers are back in the NBA Finals for the first time in 25 years.
The Pacers clinched the Eastern Conference on Saturday night with a 125-108 Game 6 victory over the visiting New York Knicks.
Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 31 points, while Tyrese Haliburton recorded 21 and helped seal the victory with a dominant fourth quarter.
NBA fans are now excited to see both stars match up with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals.
Earlier on Saturday night, two tightly-contested quarters left the Pacers up by just four points heading into the half.
Indiana came out of the break hot, putting the Knicks on their heels with an 8-0 run to start out the third quarter.
The home team never let up after that, climbing out to a 15-point advantage by the end of the third.
As Jarace Walker suffered an injury and was helped to the locker room, the Pacers went on to weather a physical comeback attempt from the Knicks in the fourth quarter.
Fans were impressed to see another clutch performance from Haliburton, who stepped up in the final minutes to shut down any hopes of a Knicks comeback.
OG Anunoby led the Knicks with 24 points in the loss, while New York's Game 5 hero Jalen Brunson was held to 19 points. Karl-Anthony Towns contributed 22 points and 14 rebounds.
The Knicks will need to wait at least one more year to snap a championship series drought that dates back to 1999.
Indiana is meanwhile headed to the NBA Finals for the first time since when Reggie Miller and the 1999-00 Pacers lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games.
Haliburton and Siakam will now join other key players like Andrew Nembhard, who scored 14 points on Saturday, and Obi Toppin, who added 18 off the bench, in attempting to lead the Pacers to a different outcome this spring.
These players will be tasked with defeating a Thunder team that went 29-1 against Eastern Conference opponents, including 2-0 against the Pacers, during the 2024-25 regular season.
Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals is set to tip off at Oklahoma City's Paycom Center on June 5.
