The Pacers are headed to the NBA Finals

The Indiana Pacers are headed to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000.

The Indiana Pacers just defeated the New York Knicks in 6 games in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Most people definitely didn’t think the Pacers would make it this far. However, in the first round they managed to defeat the Cavaliers, who were the best team in the Eastern Conference. And even after that most people still thought the Knicks were going to win the conference finals, but the Pacers proved a lot of people wrong.

Here is the result of each game of the Eastern Conference Finals, along with the best performances and some information about each:

Game 1:

Final Score:

Pacers win 138-135.

In this game, the Knicks blew a 17-point lead late and lost in overtime. Aaron Nesmith hit six 4th-quarter threes, and Tyrese Haliburton tied it at the buzzer, then led the Pacers to the win. Both Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns also had big games in the loss.

Key Performances:

Tyrese Haliburton had 31 points and 11 assists, on 52% shooting

Aaron Nesmith had 30 points on 69% shooting

Karl-Anthony Towns had 35 points and 12 rebounds on 65% shooting

Jalen Brunson had 43 points and 5 assists on 60% shooting.

Haliburton's huge shot to send the game to overtime:

(The Pacers are celebrating like this because they thought it was a 3-pointer to win the game. It ended up being a 2-pointer, which sent the game to overtime, where they won anyway.)

Game 2:

Final Score:

Pacers win 114-109.

Key Performances:

Pascal Siakam had 39 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal

Jalen Brunson had 36 points, 11 assists, 3 rebounds, and a steal

Game 3:

Final Score:

Knicks win 106-100.

In this game, the Knicks completed a huge 20-point comeback to win.

The Knicks are now the first team ever to have three 20-point comeback wins in a single playoff run.

In the 4th quarter of this game, the Pacers scored a total of 20 points. Karl-Anthony Towns had 20 points by himself in the 4th quarter.

Key Performance:

Karl-Anthony Towns had 24 points and 15 rebounds

OG Anunoby had 16 points, 3 blocks, 2 assists, 2 rebounds, and a steal.

Game 4:

Final Score:

Pacers win 130-121.

Key Performances:

Tyrese Haliburton had a crazy stat line of 32 points, 15 assists, 12 rebounds, 4 steals, and 0 turnovers.

Haliburton is now the first player in playoff history to put up at least 30 points, 15 assists, and 10 rebounds without a turnover since turnovers were first tracked in 1977-78

He is also the first Pacer ever to record a 30-point triple-double in a Playoff game and the first player ever to go 30/10/15 in a Conference Finals game

Game 5:

Final Score:

Knicks win 111-94

Key Performances:

Jalen Brunson had 32 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists on 67% shooting

Karl-Anthony Towns had 24 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 assists on 50% shooting

Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton only had 8 points on 2/7 shooting.

Jalen Brunson & Karl-Anthony Towns are now the first teammates to score 20+ points in the first 5 games of a Conference Final since Kobe Bryant & Shaquille O'Neal in 2002

Game 6:

Final Score:

Pacers win 125-108

Key Performances:

Tyrese Haliburton had 21 points, 13 assists, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals

Pascal Siakam had 31 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 assists

Pascal Siakam was named Eastern Conference Finals MVP.

The Indiana Pacers will now face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals, beginning June 5th.

The Indiana Pacers have never won an NBA championship.

The OKC Thunder have not won a championship since 1979, back when they were the Seattle SuperSonics.

That’s all for now, folks ✌️