Indiana Pacers qualify for NBA final for first time in 25 years

The New York Knicks gave it a good shot.

They pushed and hustled, but the overly impressive Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton made sure the Indiana Pacers gave their fans a celebration they waited 25 years to see again.

Siakam had 31 points, and Haliburton scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, carrying the Pacers to a 125-108 victory over the New York Knicks on Saturday night for a 4-2 series win and their first trip to the NBA Finals since 2000.

It’s just the second time in franchise history that they’ll play for the championship.

The series begins Thursday at Oklahoma City, who begin as favourites and will be gunning for their first ever NBA championship, having dominated the regular season. It promises to be a great series.

"Pascal and Tyrese put us on their backs and made sure we would not lose," coach Rick Carlisle told the Indiana crowd that was on its feet for the last minutes of the clash and the postgame party.

"Our work has just begun," he told Citi Sports.

Siakam won the Larry Bird Trophy as the Eastern Conference finals MVP.

Bird is the only other coach to take the Pacers to the Finals. Haliburton finished with 13 assists, and Obi Toppin added 18 points and six rebounds against his former team.

OG Anunoby led the Knicks with 24 points. Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 points and 14 rebounds, while Jalen Brunson added 19 points as the Pacers’ relentless ball pressure forced New York into 17 turnovers.

They did their best, but the Pacers just had too much defensive nous for the Knicks to overcome.

"There were stretches where we played very good defense and stretches where we didn’t," a reflective Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.

"I think once you dig into it and you look at it, was it our defense? Or was it our turnovers? I think it was probably a combination of both," he told Citi Sports afterwards.