Game ID: 42400306
New York Knicks @ Indiana Pacers
Saturday, May 31, 2025 at 8:00 PM ET
Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
IND 25 33 34 33 125NYK 24 30 23 31 108
IND vs NYK ScoutingIND vs NYK Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
IND availability going into 5/23 · 1 day's restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 87 since 11/04, out tonight
NEW Nesmith 26 to 32 min over the last 5
IND availability going into 5/25 · 1 day's restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 88 since 11/04, out tonight
OUT Walker missed 2 since 5/21, out tonight
NEW Nesmith 26 to 32 min over the last 5
IND availability going into 5/27 · 1 day's restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 89 since 11/04, out tonight
OUT Walker missed 3 since 5/21, out tonight
NEW Nembhard 30 to 36 min over the last 5
NEW Nesmith 26 to 31 min over the last 5
IND availability going into 5/29 · 1 day's restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 90 since 11/04, out tonight
OUT Walker missed 4 since 5/21, returns tonight: 13 min (88% of 15)
OUT Bryant missed 2 since 5/25, returns tonight: 5 min (37% of 13)
NEW Nembhard 30 to 35 min over the last 5
NEW Nesmith 26 to 33 min over the last 5
IND availability going into 5/31 · 1 day's restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 91 since 11/04, out tonight
BACK Walker back 5/29 after 4, 13 min since (88% of 15)
BACK Bryant back 5/29 after 2, 5 min since (37% of 13)
IND availability going into 6/05 · 4 days' restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 92 since 11/04, out tonight
BACK Walker back 5/29 after 4, 10 min since (68% of 15)
BACK Bryant back 5/29 after 2, 9 min since (67% of 13)
IND availability going into 6/08 · 2 days' restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 93 since 11/04, out tonight
BACK Walker back 5/29 after 4, 10 min since (68% of 15)
BACK Bryant back 5/29 after 2, 9 min since (65% of 13)
IND availability going into 6/11 · 2 days' restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 94 since 11/04, out tonight
OUT Walker missed 2 since 6/05, out tonight
BACK Bryant back 5/29 after 2, 9 min since (70% of 13)
IND availability going into 6/13 · 1 day's restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 95 since 11/04, out tonight
OUT Walker missed 3 since 6/05, out tonight
BACK Bryant back 5/29 after 2, 8 min since (61% of 13)
NYK availability going into 5/23 · 1 day's restBACK Tucker back 5/16 after 11, 4 min since (28% of 16)
BACK Wright back 5/10 after 8, 2 min since (13% of 14)
BACK Shamet back 5/10 after 4, 4 min since (26% of 14)
NYK availability going into 5/25 · 1 day's restOUT Achiuwa missed 2 since 5/21, out tonight
OUT Tucker missed 2 since 5/21, out tonight
OUT Shamet missed 2 since 5/21, returns tonight: 11 min (83% of 14)
BACK Wright back 5/21 after 3, 0 min since (3% of 14)
NYK availability going into 5/27 · 1 day's restOUT Achiuwa missed 3 since 5/21, returns tonight: 2 min (13% of 18)
OUT Tucker missed 3 since 5/21, out tonight
BACK Wright back 5/21 after 3, 7 min since (49% of 14)
BACK Shamet back 5/25 after 2, 11 min since (83% of 14)
NYK availability going into 5/29 · 1 day's restOUT Tucker missed 4 since 5/21, out tonight
OUT Payne missed 2 since 5/25, out tonight
BACK Achiuwa back 5/27 after 3, 2 min since (13% of 18)
BACK Wright back 5/21 after 3, 8 min since (55% of 14)
BACK Shamet back 5/25 after 2, 11 min since (82% of 14)
NYK availability going into 5/31 · 1 day's restOUT Tucker missed 5 since 5/21, out tonight
OUT Payne missed 3 since 5/25, out tonight
BACK Achiuwa back 5/27 after 3, 4 min since (22% of 18)
BACK Wright back 5/21 after 3, 8 min since (59% of 14)
BACK Shamet back 5/25 after 2, 12 min since (89% of 14)
I Know — the desk, before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Indiana comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 115 a night and allowing 116, shooting 48 percent and 36 from three, 29 free throws a game; Siakam at 24 and Haliburton at 21 a game. It has lost the glass by 6 a night. Without Isa. Jackson (91 straight). One day's rest. New York comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 116 a night and allowing 115, shooting 48 percent and 34 from three, 30 free throws a game; Brunson at 33 and Towns at 25 a game. It has won the glass by 6 a night. Without Tucker (5 straight). One day's rest.
So: Indiana wins, and the game turns on the glass, where New York has been plus-6 a night and Indiana minus-6. Call it Indiana 116, New York 114, New York keeping it close.
5/23 @ NYK 114-109 — IND notes
IND won 114-109. IND shot 52% (43 of 83) to NYK's 48%, 13 of 30 from three. Siakam led with 39 (15 of 23, 3 of 5 from three, 6 of 8 at the line); Turner added 16, Haliburton 14. The hinge was Q4, 33-28: from level to 5 ahead. IND trailed 49-52 at the half and won the second half 65-57. Turner was the night's best plus/minus at +17.
5/25 vs NYK 100-106 — IND notes
IND lost 100-106. IND shot 44% (34 of 77) to NYK's 44%, 5 of 25 from three. Haliburton led with 20 (7 of 15, 2 of 8 from three); Turner added 19, Siakam 17. Q2 was theirs, 28-19, but the other 3 periods went 87-72 against them. They led by as many as 20. Siakam's -21 in 35 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/27 vs NYK 130-121 — IND notes
IND won 130-121. IND shot 51% (45 of 88) to NYK's 46%, 13 of 32 from three, and got to the line 32 times to NYK's 39. IND turned it over 11 times to NYK's 17. The glass went 33-44 against them. Haliburton led with 32 (11 of 23, 5 of 12 from three, 5 of 6 at the line); Siakam added 30, Mathurin 20. The hinge was Q1, 43-35: from level to 8 ahead, and the lead reached 15. Nesmith was the night's best plus/minus at +20.
5/29 @ NYK 94-111 — IND notes
IND lost 94-111. IND shot 41% (30 of 74) to NYK's 49%, 10 of 30 from three, and went to the line 29 times to NYK's 22 — 24 points from the stripe to their 15. IND turned it over 20 times to NYK's 15, and NYK turned those into 11 steals. Mathurin led with 23 (6 of 10, 2 of 4 from three, 9 of 9 at the line); Siakam added 15, Toppin 11. Q4 was theirs, 21-21, but the other 3 periods went 90-73 against them. Toppin's -26 in 18 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/31 vs NYK 125-108 — IND notes
IND won 125-108. IND shot 54% (46 of 85) to NYK's 48%, 17 of 33 from three, and got to the line 19 times to NYK's 26. IND turned it over 12 times to NYK's 17. Siakam led with 31 (10 of 18, 3 of 5 from three, 8 of 11 at the line); Haliburton added 21, Toppin 18. The hinge was Q3, 34-23: a lead of 4 became 15, and the lead reached 21. Nembhard was the night's best plus/minus at +25.
6/05 @ OKC — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
OKC comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 117 a night and allowing 111, shooting 49 percent and 38 from three, 22 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 31 and Jal. Williams at 22 a game. 7 days' rest. Indiana comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 113 a night and allowing 111, shooting 49 percent and 39 from three, 27 free throws a game; Siakam at 26 and Haliburton at 19 a game. It has lost the glass by 5 a night. Without Isa. Jackson (92 straight). 4 days' rest.
So: OKC wins, in a game with no one edge to lean on. Call it OKC 117, Indiana 111.
6/08 @ OKC — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
OKC comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 116 a night and allowing 115, shooting 47 percent and 36 from three, 22 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 33 and Jal. Williams at 22 a game. It has lost the glass by 7 a night. 2 days' rest. Indiana comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 112 a night and allowing 111, shooting 48 percent and 40 from three, 27 free throws a game; Siakam at 22 and Haliburton at 19 a game. Without Isa. Jackson (93 straight). 2 days' rest.
So: OKC wins, and the game turns on the turnovers, Indiana giving it away 16 times a game to OKC's 11 and the glass, where Indiana has been minus-1 a night and OKC minus-7. Call it OKC 117, Indiana 112.
6/11 vs OKC — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Indiana comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 113 a night and allowing 115, shooting 48 percent and 41 from three, 25 free throws a game; Siakam at 22 and Haliburton at 18 a game. Without Isa. Jackson (94 straight), Walker (2 straight). 2 days' rest. OKC comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 117 a night and allowing 116, shooting 46 percent and 38 from three, 24 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 32 and Jal. Williams at 20 a game. It has lost the glass by 5 a night. 2 days' rest.
So: Indiana wins, and the game turns on the turnovers, Indiana giving it away 16 times a game to OKC's 12. Call it Indiana 116, OKC 115, OKC keeping it close.
6/13 vs OKC — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Indiana comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 111 a night and allowing 112, shooting 48 percent and 40 from three, 23 free throws a game; Siakam at 20 and Haliburton at 16 a game. Without Isa. Jackson (95 straight), Walker (3 straight). One day's rest. OKC comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 118 a night and allowing 111, shooting 48 percent and 41 from three, 26 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 34 and Jal. Williams at 23 a game. One day's rest.
So: OKC wins, on the road, and the game turns on the turnovers, Indiana giving it away 17 times a game to OKC's 13. Call it OKC 115, Indiana 113, Indiana keeping it close.
5/23 vs IND 109-114 — NYK notes
NYK lost 109-114. NYK shot 48% (40 of 84) to IND's 52%, 11 of 32 from three. Brunson led with 36 (13 of 27, 5 of 12 from three); Bridges added 20, Towns 20. Q1 was theirs, 26-24, but the other 3 periods went 90-83 against them. Towns's -20 in 28 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/25 @ IND 106-100 — NYK notes
NYK won 106-100. NYK shot 44% (34 of 78) to IND's 44%, 11 of 32 from three. Towns led with 24 (8 of 17, 3 of 7 from three, 5 of 6 at the line); Brunson added 23, Anunoby 16. The hinge was Q4, 36-20: NYK came in trailing by 10 and left it ahead by 6. NYK trailed 45-58 at the half and won the second half 61-42.
5/27 @ IND 121-130 — NYK notes
NYK lost 121-130. NYK shot 46% (38 of 82) to IND's 51%, 12 of 28 from three, and went to the line 39 times to IND's 32 — 33 points from the stripe to their 27. NYK turned it over 17 times to IND's 11, and IND turned those into 11 steals. The glass went 44-33 for them. Brunson led with 31 (9 of 19, 2 of 6 from three, 11 of 12 at the line); Towns added 24, Anunoby 22. Q2 was theirs, 29-26, the deficit cut from 8 to 5, but the other 3 periods went 104-92 against them. Robinson's -20 in 19 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/29 vs IND 111-94 — NYK notes
NYK won 111-94. NYK shot 49% (44 of 89) to IND's 41%, 8 of 29 from three, and got to the line 22 times to IND's 29. NYK turned it over 15 times to IND's 20. Brunson led with 32 (12 of 18, 4 of 7 from three); Towns added 24, Hart 12. The hinge was Q2, 29-22: a lead of 4 became 11, and the lead reached 22. Towns was the night's best plus/minus at +26.
5/31 @ IND 108-125 — NYK notes
NYK lost 108-125. NYK shot 48% (41 of 86) to IND's 54%, 9 of 32 from three, and went to the line 26 times to IND's 19 — 17 points from the stripe to their 16. NYK turned it over 17 times to IND's 12, and IND turned those into 10 steals. Anunoby led with 24 (10 of 18, 2 of 7 from three); Towns added 22, Brunson 19. Q1 was theirs, 24-25, but the other 3 periods went 100-84 against them. Brunson's -18 in 34 minutes was the worst on the floor.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
NYKAH A. Hukporti
DW D. Wright
JB J. Brunson
JH J. Hart
KT K. Towns
KO Kolek
LS L. Shamet
MB M. Bridges
MM M. McBride
MR M. Robinson
OA O. Anunoby
INDAN A. Nembhard
AN A. Nesmith
BM B. Mathurin
BS B. Sheppard
JW J. Walker
MT M. Turner
OT O. Toppin
PS P. Siakam
TB T. Bryant
TH T. Haliburton
TM T. McConnell
NYK/IND the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
Pacers beat Knicks 125-108 in Game 6 to reach NBA Finals for the second time in franchise history
INDIANAPOLIS -- — Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton made sure the Indiana Pacers gave their fans a celebration they waited 25 years to see again.
Siakam had 31 points and Haliburton scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, carrying the Pacers to a 125-108 victory over the New York Knicks on Saturday night for a 4-2 series win and their first trip to the NBA Finals since 2000.
It's just the second time in franchise history that they'll play for the championship. The series begins Thursday at Oklahoma City.
“Pascal and Tyrese put us on their backs and made sure we would not lose,” coach Rick Carlisle told the gold-clad crowd that was on its feet for the waning minutes and the postgame party. “But our work has just begun.”
Siakam won the Larry Bird Trophy as the Eastern Conference finals MVP. Bird is the only other coach to take the Pacers to the Finals. Haliburton finished with 13 assists and Obi Toppin added 18 points and six rebounds against his former team.
OG Anunoby led the Knicks with 24 points. Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 points and 14 rebounds, while Jalen Brunson added 19 points as the Pacers' relentless ball pressure forced New York into 17 turnovers.
“There were stretches where we played very good defense and stretches where we didn't," Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I think once you dig into it and you look at is, was it our defense? Or was it our turnovers? I think it was probably a combination of both.”
Whatever the explanation, the Knicks are headed home again courtesy of the Pacers. New York still hasn't played in the finals since 1999.
It was a magical night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse — from the festive pregame atmosphere through the roaring ovation for the starters as they departed with 47.2 seconds to go to Reggie Miller 's presentation of the Eastern Conference's Bob Cousy Trophy to Pacers owner Herb Simon on TNT’s final NBA broadcast. Miller was one of the telecast's color analysts.
And yet, it was a tough, physical game that didn't always follow the Pacers' preferred style.
Whether it was Towns limping after drawing a foul or Haliburton holding his jaw when he took a shot that knocked him to the ground, the tone was set early — and never really changed with so much at stake.
Indiana finally broke open a close game by opening the second half on a 9-0 run, then extended their lead to 78-63 courtesy of three straight 3-pointers — two from Thomas Bryant and one from Andrew Nembhard . The run ignited the crowd, which included everyone from Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson to WNBA star Caitlin Clark to Timothee Chalamet to Kylie Jenner.
But when the Knicks answered with eight straight to cut the deficit to 78-71, the Pacers responded with another 9-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game and the Knicks were forced to play catch-up the rest of the night.
“This is no time to be popping champagne,” said Carlisle, who won the 2011 title as coach of the Dallas Mavericks . “When you get to this point of the season, it's two teams and it's one goal. So it becomes an all or nothing thing and we understand the magnitude of it.”