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Los Angeles: The Indiana Pacers pulled off another big win at home on Friday, beating the New York Knicks 116-103 to send the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals to a seventh-decisive game.
Pascal Siakam scored 25 points to lead the Pacers in scoring. Tyrese Haliburton scored 15 points and had nine assists, Myles Turner scored 17 points, and six Pacers players scored in double figures.
The Pacers were on the brink of elimination after an embarrassing Game 5 loss in New York, but they played a desperate offense, outscoring the Knicks 62-38 in the paint and winning the rebounding battle.
They fought for the ball, blocked eight shots, dished out 35 assists, kept their offense firing and kept Knicks talisman Jalen Brunson in check for much of the game, ultimately improving to 6-0 at home in the playoffs.
However, they will have to continue on the road if they want to play the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, with the Knicks hosting Madison Square Garden for Game 7 on Sunday.
“Right now, this is a series and it’s all about the marbles,” Haliburton said. “What better place to play Game 7 than at the Garden?
“No team has ever won a game on the road in this series, so we have to be ready to play from start to finish in 48 minutes.”
The Pacers broke the deadlock with a 17-2 scoring run, extending their lead to 13 points late in the second quarter.
Donte DiVincenzo stopped New York’s slide, draining a 3-pointer from the corner to cut the Pacers’ lead to 10 points and give the Pacers a 61-51 halftime lead.
Brunson shot 2-for-13 in the first half and scored just five points. He found his groove in the second half, scoring 14 points in the third quarter and 31 points for the game.
Myles McBride scored 20 points for the Knicks, but their brief run to start the third quarter was quickly suppressed by the Pacers.
“There’s really no excuses,” Brunson said. “You have to give them credit for how they played tonight.”
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said it was a matter of playing harder.
He said Siakam, who won the NBA championship with Toronto in 2019 and was acquired from the Raptors in January, provided key veteran experience and a crucial skill set for the youngster, making a difference in Friday’s game.
“He’s the only guy on our roster that can shoot 16 feet over a 7-footer and make it,” Carlisle said. “He did it three or four times in the third and fourth quarters.”
While Carlisle was happy with his team’s bounce-back win, he’s already looking forward to the test on Sunday.
“In a series like this, you can’t sit there and pat yourself on the back. It’ll set you up for failure in the next game,” he said.
Physical and mental challenges
The Knicks returned to their home court and faced another injury concern when forward Josh Hart left the game with what the team called abdominal soreness.
Apparently he had been troubled by abdominal discomfort since the first quarter.
It was just the latest blow for the Knicks, who lost forward OG Anunoby to a hamstring injury in Game 2, and were already without Julius Randle, Bojan Bogdanovic and Mitchell Robinson.
“We’ll see,” was head coach Tom Thibodeau’s tight-lipped response to the question of whether Hart would play Sunday, but he made it clear the Knicks would not use the injury as an excuse.
“That’s the nature of the playoffs,” he said. “That’s what you play for. A lot of times, it ends up being a hard-fought game, a loose ball game… so you’re tested physically, mentally, emotionally — and you have to be able to overcome all of that.
“So no matter what we face, we can overcome it and keep fighting.”
bb/mtp
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