If there is a consistent topic from the Knicks from the beginning to the end of the series, it is: No stupid mistakes. Walkers turn them into simple buckets in another way.
In Game 6, Indiana’s season swept over their defensive media and the Knicks, well…
and
Indiana scored 34 points on 17 Knicks turnovers (15 to three-quarters of the odd three-quarters in the game), plus 31 points from Pascal Siakam and 21 points from Tyrese Haliburton, the first time in a quarter-century to bring the Indiana Pacers to the NBA Finals.
Indiana won the game 6 125-108 and won the series 4-2.
Indiana will travel to Oklahoma City to face thunder from the first game of the NBA Finals Thursday night (8:30 p.m. Eastern Conference).
Pascal Siakam scored more than 30 points in three of the four Pacers wins and was named the Eastern Conference Finals MVP.
"After a bad game, we wanted to bounce back, and I had 100% faith in my teammates. Whenever we were frustrated, we found a way and we did it tonight."
This is a rebound game. It's also the kind of game where everything seems to go well in the Pacers - even Obi Toppin and Thomas Bryant are placing multiple 3-pointers.
When everything goes well in Indy, it's a tough night for the Knicks star. Jalen Brunson scored 19 points, but it took 18 strokes to get there, and his pressure on his pacemaker exacerbated five turnovers. Karl-Anthony Towns took 22 shots on 14 boards (on 19), but he had a lot of ugly defensive games like walking down the screen in Haliburton and watching him drain for 3 seconds.
With a lot of time, both teams were nervous in the first quarter, which proved 10 turnovers and a 6-shot percentage of the town. Despite this, the game was tense, with Indy 25-24 after a quarter.
More in the second quarter. The Knicks won a big game from Landry Shamet and Delon Wright's bench. OG Anunoby had 14 first-half scores, but the Knicks made 10 turnovers, which led to the Pacers' transition opportunity, which boosted them by 58-54. Siakam was the only doubles racer in the first half, with 16 of them.
In the third quarter, the Pacers broke the game and controlled the game. It starts with the 9-0 open frame, enclosed by siakam and -1 in the leak. Indiana hasn't finished yet, and their run extends to Bryant's 3s 20-9. Starting from the rest of the game, the Knicks will run when they will be running at 7-0 in the third round - the Pacers will answer with a bigger run (9-0) and answer the Knicks 9-0. Indiana took three quarters to lead, and that's the key stat: 15 Knicks' turnovers became 30 Pacers points (at the time New York had 6 points in Pacers' turnovers).
That's the court. That's the series. Starting from the series, a deeper team will enter the NBA finals.