Pacers Defeat Knicks to Now Meet Celtics in Eastern Conference Finals

Coming into the final game of the Knicks vs. Pacers series, many people around the league believed the Knicks to be heavy favorites. This was due to them being undefeated at home against Indiana so far this series. Two players who had been hurt this series were also making the start today for the Knicks. OG Anunoby and Josh Hart both made the start. At first, people believed these two players were the key to a Knicks win. Except, early on, it was apparent neither were healthy and were only a shell of themselves. This created many issues early for the Knicks who expected to depend on both. 

The first half was dominated by the Pacers as they took a 15-point lead into halftime. This half by the Pacers was the best overall shooting half in the last 25 years as they shot the lights out shooting 76 percent. Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam proved why they are one of the best young duos in the entire league, proving to be unguardable early. Yet, the early lead didn't stop the Knicks from continually fighting and showing grit to remain in the game. In the third quarter, the Knicks got the game down to six points but soon after multiple 7-0 runs by the Pacers they soon once again got ahead by a large margin. 

While it seemed like nothing could go worse for the Knicks as they were suddenly now down 17 heading into the fourth. They had more issues to deal with as both Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby were ruled out for the game. Brunson was diagnosed with a fractured hand after early reports. In the fourth quarter, more of the same continued putting the Pacers truly in the driver's seat to head to the Eastern Conference Finals. Without Brunson, it seemed that the Knicks were officially done as they lacked their leader and the Pacers did not let up one bit. For the Pacers, they were led by Haliburton, who scored 26, as well as, Andrew Nembhard, who also scored 20 points. Overall, it was a great series with many ups-and-downs; however, the deep three by Andrew Nembhard to win Game Three changed everything. The Pacers will now go on to play the Celtics after shooting the best field goal percentage in NBA History in a playoff game.