Indiana Pacers vs New York Knicks, 130-109. Game recap, scores, highlights, stats.

The Indiana Pacers were only getting started when they put together one of the greatest offensive seasons in NBA history. They put up a truly amazing show for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. With 26 points from Tyrese Haliburton and an NBA postseason record-setting 67.1% field goal percentage, the Pacers defeated the Knicks 130-109 on Sunday to make their first trip to the Eastern Conference finals in ten years.

The Pacers set an NBA record by scoring 140 points 11 times during the regular season, and they averaged 123.3 points, sixth highest in league history. They haven’t really slowed down during the postseason.

The Pacers’ first-half shooting percentage of 76.3%, which they made 29 of their 38 attempts, was the greatest in the postseason since the NBA started recording in-depth play-by-play for each of the four quarters in 1997. At that moment, they were up 70–55, and they continued to pull away whenever the Knicks attempted to score in the second half.

The Pacers, ranked sixth, will now play Boston, ranked first, in a series that starts on Tuesday. With a fractured left hand, Jalen Brunson abandoned the game in the second half, the last injury to leave a Knicks squad that had been completely destroyed by them.

After missing the previous four games due to a strained left hamstring, they were able to get OG Anunoby back on Sunday. However, he was obviously not moving well and was substituted out of the game after only five minutes.

Aaron Nesmith was 8 for 8 on his way to scoring 19 points for the Pacers, while Pascal Siakam and Andrew Nembhard each scored 20 points.

The Knicks were aiming to make it to the conference finals for the first time since 2000, but they were unable to overcome the losses of Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, and Bojan Bogdanovic before Anunoby and Brunson were ultimately lost. Donte DiVincenzo scored 39 points and made nine 3-pointers for the Knicks.

Having scored 40 points this playoffs, Brunson finished with 17 points and nine assists on 6 for 17 shooting. Coming off the bench, Alec Burks scored 26 points. In what was intended to be a defense-heavy era, the Pacers’ fast-paced style proved to be effective in the third Game 7 between the two teams, which ended with the Knicks winning in the 1994 Eastern Conference finals and the Pacers winning 97-95 the following year in the East semifinals.

With a first quarter score of 39 points, they set a record for the most points in a Game 7 during the play-by-play era. This kind of score would have been more appropriate for halftime in the century-old Pacers-Knicks rivalry.

Turner’s attempted slam ended up bouncing back out of the hoop, but the Pacers still made 10 of their first 11 shots and didn’t let up much the remainder of the half.

After going 16 for 21 from the field (76.2%) and 7 for 9 from 3-point range (77.8%) in the opening quarter, the Pacers had a 39-27 lead. Subsequently, Indiana shot 13 of 17 (76.5%) in the second quarter, extending their lead to 22 points. After cutting the lead to 70-55 at the half, the Knicks scored the first seven points of the second half, resulting in a 12-3 halftime run that reduced the lead to 73-67. However, the Knicks made three consecutive mistakes that allowed Indiana to cut the Pacers’ lead to 84-70 with the team ahead by seven points.