Indiana Pacers edge New York Knicks; Pacers to play in Finals 

ORANI, Bataan— After a decade of hiatus in the Eastern Conference Finals, the unstoppable Indiana Pacers edged the New York Knicks, 130–109. The Pacers snatched Game 7 from Knick to advance to the finals for the first time since 2014, 4–3, in Madison Square Garden on Monday, May 20 (PHT).   

In a win-or-go-home scenario in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, Pacers graved Knicks to a 21-point deficit to secure their spot. 

Tyrese Haliburton’s stellar performance led the team to victory. He recorded 26 points in the span of 32:53 minutes, including his six assists for the Knicks. He shot 10 for 17 field goals (58.8%) and made his six-out-of-12 three-pointer attempts.  

“I think it’s just the old-school way of thinking that you can’t play this fast in the playoffs, but I think opportunistically you can do it. I think if we’re able to get stops, of course we can,” Haliburton said.  

Furthermore, Pascam Siakam notched 20 points, four assists, and four rebounds (four defensive).  

Andrew Nembhard grabbed 20 points, six assists, and five rebounds (five defensive), adding 40 points for the victory.  

“We have a historic offense obviously, but this guy got things rolling and everybody kind of just followed suit,” Myles Turner said, pointing toward Haliburton.  

“To do that on the road here in the Garden in Game 7 obviously is phenomenal, but I think this is what we’ve been doing all season long and we were able to show it on the biggest stage,” he added.  

The Pacers 67.1% Field Goal Percentage is the highest shooting percentage in any playoff game in NBA history.  

Indiana averaged 123.3 points during the regular season. It is the sixth highest in league history and an exceptional NBA record.  

Moving to the losing side, Donte DiVincenzo tallied a Playoff career-high 39 points. He shot 11 for 21 field goals (52.4%) and made his nine-out-of-15 three-pointer attempts for the Knicks.  

On the other side, Jalen Brunson finished with 17 points and nine assists and shot 6 for 17 field goals. Alec Burks notched 26 points off the bench in the losing effort.   

“Knowing that this team gave its best effort all year long, I can live with the result,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.  

“It’s disappointing, but in the end, there’s only going to be one happy team. Twenty-nine teams will fall short. This team fought like crazy and there’s no regret.” He added  

The Pacers will face Boston in a series that begins in game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday, May 22 at 8:00 AM (PHT).