Sigh of relief.
Exhale of joy.
Probably a bit of both for the Indiana Pacers, and the percentage of relief vs. joy depends on the person.
No matter how one dissects the emotion, the Pacers did what they needed to do and eliminated the New York Knicks wth a 125-108 victory in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals Saturday night.
Indiana avoided a Game 7 at Madison Square Garden and bypassed the prospect of blowing a 3-1 series lead in advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000.
‘To be able to win the series the way we did today at home in front of our fans is huge,’ Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. ‘You never want to go back on the road in Game 7. And so we’re grateful. We’re grateful for a lot of things today.’
Indiana has never won an NBA championship. It lost to the Lakers in six games in 2000 and won three ABA titles in 1970, 1972 and 1973. It joined the NBA in 1976.
The Pacers have had quality squads with Larry Brown, Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, Carlisle and Frank Vogel coaching. But until Saturday, only Bird, with Reggie Miller starring on the court, took the Pacers to the Finals.
Owner Herb Simon has been an outstanding steward. Despite no championship for the franchise, the Pacers have been a competitive mid/small-market team for decades. They have had fewer than 35 victories just four times since 1990.
It’s a small-market dream, in part due to the NBA’s collective-bargaining agreement with players that aimed to give more teams the opportunity to compete for a title – if well managed. Indiana and Oklahoma City are exactly that.
This Pacers squad earned this Finals appearance, beating Milwaukee and Giannis Antetokounmpo in the first round, No. 1 seed Cleveland and their All-Stars (albeit injured) in the second, and then dismissed New York, Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns.
That’s an impressive run for a No. 4 seed. Of course, that four seed is not representative of how the Pacers finished the season after starting 10-15. From Jan. 1 through the end of the regular season, the Pacers were one of the best teams. They had the fourth-most victories, the No. 7 offense, the No. 9 defense and the No. 6 net rating.
As Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson pointed out multiple times: “They press for 48 minutes and they run faster than anybody in the league. We have the data.”
The Pacers have the personnel – starters and reserves – to play that style. Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam are All-Stars. In Game 6, Siakam had 31 points, five rebounds, three assists, three blocks and a steal, earning the conference finals MVP. Haliburton had 21 points, 13 assists, six rebounds and three steals – his ninth double-double in 16 playoff games. They went 10-deep against the Knicks and regularly beat them down the court for open shots. And they made 3-pointers – 17-for-33 in a close-out game while holding the Knicks to 28.1% shooting on 3s.
“It’s a special time to be a Pacers fan and to be a part of this organization,’ Haliburton said. ‘And we just have great people in that locker room from our players to our coaches to our support staff to our ballboys to everybody that is a part of this. So it’s a really special feeling. And I can ramble and ramble and ramble and I probably am right now, but I just think I can’t put into words how special this group is and how much this means to us.
‘We’re going to enjoy it for the night and then as a group come together and get ready for what’s in front of us. What’s in front of us is the first of four, and we understand we’ve got a big challenge in front of us.’
In 2½ decades, Carlisle ‒ in his second stint with the Pacers after 13 seasons with Dallas that yielded a title in 2011 ‒ has proven himself one of the NBA’s best coaches, adapting to different eras, styles and personnel. As he has gotten older and wiser, he has ceded control, allowing a star like Haliburton to run the offense without Carlisle dictating every possession.
The reward for winning the East? A Finals matchup against Oklahoma City, the best team in the league.
‘This is no time to be popping champagne,’ Carlisle said. ‘And when you get to this point of the season, it’s two teams and it’s one goal. And so it becomes an all or nothing thing. And we understand the magnitude of the opponent. Oklahoma City has been dominant all year long with capital letters in the word dominant defensively.’
The Pacers are underdogs. But with the Knicks behind them, they’re not just relieved or overjoyed to be there.
(This story was updated with additional information.)
Follow NBA reporter Jeff Zillgitt on social media @JeffZillgitt