admin
The Indiana Pacers couldn’t miss on Sunday.
And the New York Knicks finally couldn’t overcome the injuries that wracked their roster throughout the playoffs.
Tyrese Haliburton scored 26 points for the visiting Pacers, who rode a historic shooting performance to a 130-109 win over the Knicks in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference semi-final series.
Indiana shot 67.1 percent (53-for-79) from the field the highest shooting percentage ever in an NBA playoff game. It broke the previous record held by the 1989-90 Boston Celtics, who shot 67 percent (63-for-94) in a 157-128 win over the Knicks in a first-round game.
“We played a great game tonight,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “I just told our team: When you win a Game 7 in Madison Square Garden, you’ve made history. It’s very, very difficult to do.”
Haliburton was 10-for-17 from the field after hoisting just 34 total shots in Games 1, 2 and 5, all of which were played in New York.
“I knew today was Game 7,” Haliburton said. “I would hate to be (angry) all summer about not shooting the ball today. For me, it was just about coming out, playing the right way.”
The sixth-seeded Pacers, who overcame series deficits of 2-0 and 3-2, will face the top-seeded Celtics in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals, scheduled to begin Tuesday night in Boston.
“I don’t think anybody here picked the Pacers to win the series,” Haliburton said.
“They didn’t,” added Myles Turner, sitting next to Haliburton.
“But it happened,” Haliburton said.
This is the first trip to the conference finals for Indiana since 2014.
“I think we’re all excited to continue to build excitement around our city,” Haliburton said. “Just understand we’re not done yet. We’ve still got another series possibly two to go. But it starts with Boston and I think we’re all excited for that challenge.”
The Knicks, who played short-handed throughout the series and lost star point guard Jalen Brunson to a fractured left hand in the third quarter on Sunday, fell short in their bid to appear in the conference finals for the first time since 2000. — Reuters.
Online Reporter