Pacers Look Like They Can’t Be Stopped, Especially Not By Knicks

For the second straight series, the Pacers have a 2-0 lead — after winning each of the first two games on the road. That has to be up there when it comes to NBA firsts.

This one came in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, the Pacers holding off the Knicks by a 114-109 count at Madison Square Garden. It wasn’t quite as dramatic as the Game 1 win, when Tyrese Haliburton hit a crazy, bouncing shot at the buzzer to send it to overtime and cap the comeback of comebacks.

Instead, the Pacers just beat the Knicks methodically, slowly, almost at a pace favored by New York. And this time, the main man for Indiana was Pascal Siakam, who erupted for 39 points on 14-of-23 shooting.

It was just the latest example that this team can beat you in oh so many ways.

Interestingly, the Pacers trailed by three at halftime, and I just sat there thinking, “Indiana has played lousy. And it’s practically tied.”

Haliburton touched on that, too.

“When you play such a terrible half like that and you’re only down three, I think that gives you a lot of confidence,” he told TNT.

Meanwhile, the Knicks really have no answer beyond the one-man show that Jalen Brunson (36 points) has become. Everyone else has played well. Just not well enough. And now we’re headed to Indiana for two games.

“We’ve got to make better plays,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters. “More winning plays.”

Sadly for the Knicks, against these Pacers, that still may not be enough. For one, Indiana has been on an absolute tear since the start of the New Year. For two, their combination of physical play and flair just looks like a terrible matchup for the Knicks.

We can see that much already. And we haven’t even hit the heartland, the state where basketball is said to have been perfected.

Some may argue that claim, but man, this Indiana team sure is getting it really right. That’s not even up for debate.

Just ask the poor Knicks.