It was a historic night at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday as the Indiana Pacers took down the New York Knicks in Game 6 to advance to the NBA Finals. The Pacers, who are 12-3 in the playoffs so far, will face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the final round of the postseason for a chance to win their first NBA championship.
After an inspiring win at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, the Knicks were feeling good about their chances to make a comeback. Being on the brink of elimination, however, there was no room for error, and they couldn’t avoid making costly mistakes. Mostly, it was the third quarter that broke the Knicks, where they dropped just 23 points to get outscored by 11. The final score wasn’t even close: 125-108 in favor of the Pacers.
Tyrese Haliburton had a signature performance tonight, finishing with 21 points, six rebounds, and 13 assists to make amends for his performance in Game 5. Pascal Siakam, meanwhile, was the leading scorer with 31 points, five rebounds, and three assists on 55.6% shooting. Meanwhile, Karl-Anthony Towns totaled 22 points and 14 rebounds in the loss.
On social media, fans were buzzing with reactions to the game. While many were poking fun at the Knicks, most of them were speaking highly of the Pacers and the incredible season they’ve put together.
“Congrats to the Pacers fans! Such a fun team to watch,” wrote Bill Simmons. “Can’t wait to talk about this series on the pod tomorrow. The Game 1 comeback was an all-timer and set up everything else.”
Right off the bat, many fans found themselves disappointed with two small-market teams in the NBA Finals (Oklahoma City and Indiana). While many were hoping for the Kicks to make it in, there’s no changing the results, and it doesn’t mean the Finals will be any less entertaining.
“Most fans of the other teams probably wanted a Knicks-T-Wolves final,” a very optimistic fan posted X. “But that’s the way it goes…..we are going to have a first-time champion, which is cool… and you never know, the series might be better than a lot think.”
Whether you love or hate the matchup, there’s no denying that both teams are playing some great basketball right now, and it will surely deliver some excellent gameplay for the fans.
“People saying this will be a bad finals are wrong,” wrote one fan. “Two teams playing very high-level basketball. What more could you want?”
Perhaps the best start of this story from the Pacers’ perspective is that they were counted out from the beginning. Nobody had them making a Finals run this season after a rough start, but they’ve hit a stride at the right time and are now four wins away from winning a championship.
“So happy for Hali and the Pacers,” wrote one fan. “Started the season 10-15, got voted most overrated player by the league, dad got banned from attending some playoff game… and now they’re headed to the Finals.”
For Knicks fans, the mood was, understandably, much more somber. As they face a long summer ahead, their fans will be rooting for the Thunder in the Finals, but mostly they will be watching to see what their front office does to improve their current situation.
“This series proves one thing. Knicks need to make wholesale changes both outside and inside the organization,” wrote a fan. “You can’t keep constantly getting shit on by everyone, unless you have competent managing and coaching, and players who are willing to perform come playoff time.”
The Pacers will be entering the Finals as major underdogs to win. The Thunder have home-court advantage, and they also have the reigning MVP, who is more locked in now than ever before. It’s going to be a wild fight ahead, but first, the Pacers will take a minute to celebrate the win and enjoy their ongoing playoff success. This marks the second straight year Indiana has advanced to at least the Conference Finals. The only question is, can they do it again?
