The New York Knicks’ 52-year championship drought painfully continues.
Last night, the Indiana Pacers cruised to a 125-108 Game 6 win against the Knicks to advance to the NBA Finals. The Pacers move on for the first time in 25 years and now hope to maintain the momentum and win the franchise’s first championship.
Despite a raucous Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the Knicks kept things close, trailing by only four at halftime. However, the Pacers began to pull away in the third quarter, which ended with them leading by 11.
In Games 1-5, Andrew Nembhard defended Jalen Brunson for 49 match-ups, allowing 51.0 player points per 100 match-ups
In Game 6, Nembhard defended Brunson for 55 match-ups, giving up just 9.1 player points per 100 match-ups
He was sensational. pic.twitter.com/VQNoJSo22x
— Caitlin Cooper (@C2_Cooper) June 1, 2025
They did so by owning both ends of the ball, namely, Andrew Nembhard, who locked down Jalen Brunson, only allowing him 19 points, while he was shooting 4/10 at the half. That same defense only aided the Knicks’ 18 turnovers, which led to 25 fastbreak points for the Pacers.
The Pacers were also efficient on offense, as well, and even Tyrese Halliburton’s 21-point, 13-assist performance took a back seat to Pascal Siakam’s 31 points. Siakam was even honored with the Eastern Conference Finals MVP trophy, which led to a hilarious hesitation moment for Haliburton, who thought he’d won it.
Tyrese Haliburton thought that Larry Bird ECF MVP trophy was his
#NBA #Pacers pic.twitter.com/59eF189mNI
— Caleb Nixon (@calebnixonmedia) June 1, 2025
“I’m just a young kid from Cameroon, that moved to the U.S. when I was eighteen years old and gave everything to the game of basketball.”
—Pascal Siakam on what winning the Eastern Conference finals MVP trophy meant to him
pic.twitter.com/KMS0SKFRbs
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 1, 2025
As for the Knicks, OG Anunoby had a team high 24 points, followed by Karl Anthony Towns’ 22, and a nowhere-to-be-found Josh Hart, who only scored 4 points.
Despite the disappointing loss, Brunson believes the Knicks have done enough work to put themselves in a similar position during the 2025-26 season.
Q: “How confident are you that this group has enough to take that next step?”
Jalen Brunson: “The most confidence. Overconfident. Seriously. Not an ounce of doubt” pic.twitter.com/Aw0AWsQoXQ
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) June 1, 2025
“The most confidence, overconfident, seriously,” Brunson said. “There’s not an ounce of any type of doubt that I’m confident with this group.”
That same line of questioning extended to head coach Tom Thibodeau, who notoriously didn’t play the bench much.
Jalen Brunson was asked if he has confidence that Tom Thibodeau is the right coach for the Knicks moving forward:
“Is that a real question right now? You just asked me if I believe if he’s the right guy. Yes.” pic.twitter.com/FRjCO8genL
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) June 1, 2025
“Is that a real question right now?” Brunson said. “You just asked me if I believe if he’s the right guy. Yes.”
As we look forward to the Pacers taking on the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Finals beginning June 5, see how social media is reacting to the Eastern Conference Finals results below.
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