Pacers on cusp of 1st NBA Finals since 2000, host Knicks for Game 3

The Indiana Pacers stand just two victories away from their first NBA Finals appearance since 2000 behind a pick-your-hero approach.
Tyrese Haliburton and Aaron Nesmith were the stars of Game 1, and Pascal Siakam engineered an old-fashioned takeover in Game 2. Now, the Pacers look to put the New York Knicks on life support when the series resumes Sunday night in Indianapolis.
Indiana holds a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series after notching two victories in New York. The Pacers recovered from a 14-point hole with under three minutes left in regulation in Game 1 before recording a 138-135 overtime win. Indiana followed up with a 114-109 victory in Game 2.
Jalen Brunson has been carrying the Knicks with outputs of 43 and 36 points. Conversely, the Pacers never know who might step up.
Haliburton had 31 points and 11 assists, and Nesmith had 30 points and hit 8-of-9 3-pointers in the series opener before Siakam carried the load in Game 2 with 39 points on 15-of-23 shooting.
“I think what makes us special as a team is just that we have different weapons and we’re not consumed with who’s going to do what,” Siakam said after achieving his career-best playoff point total. “You just go into the game, and however the game presents itself, that’s how we go and take it and do it our way. And it doesn’t matter who scores.”
“Shout-out to my teammates for finding me and making sure that I stayed aggressive the whole game. It’s going to take all of us to get where we want to get to.”
If the Pacers win on Sunday, they will have the chance to finish the series at home on Tuesday.
But Indiana coach Rick Carlisle wants no part of that subject.
“You cannot assume going home is going to be easier. It never is,” Carlisle said. “Each game as you ascend in a playoff series becomes harder. New York, they’ve got an amazing fighting spirit.”
The Knicks are now focused on digging out of a very large hole.
“For me, what I want to say to them is obviously we’ve got to continue to fight,” Brunson said of his message to his teammates. “It’s going to take one day at a time, one game at a time. We can’t look ahead, we can’t think about anything other than Game 3 at this point.”
Brunson also had 11 assists in Game 2 but missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game with 8.1 seconds left.
But New York repeatedly had troubles on defense and Karl-Anthony Towns played just 28 minutes due to his troubles defending Siakam.
That gave Mitchell Robinson 29 minutes of playing time off the bench — he had six points, nine rebounds and three blocks — and Josh Hart called for more of Robinson in Game 3.
“We have to figure out ways… he can play more,” Hart said. “We’re great with him on. We all got to be willing to sacrifice for the betterment of the team.”
Brunson wanted no part of the blame game.
“Obviously, we can finger point and say this is wrong, that’s wrong, and say it’s this person’s fault, it’s that person’s fault,” Brunson said. “But collectively, we’ve got to get it together. That’s really it.”
The environment in Indianapolis will be at a fever pitch with Sunday’s game following the famed Indianapolis 500.
“I’ve been to the 500. It’s crazy, so I can’t imagine all those people then coming over to Gainbridge (Fieldhouse),” Haliburton said. “You know, going to be a rowdy crowd, going to be a little intoxicated. Who knows? It’s going to be a special time. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”