It's been 25 years, but the Indiana Pacers are back into the NBA Finals. The Pacers pulled away in the second half of Game 6, defeating the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Pacers will take on the Western Conference champion Oklahoma City Thunder beginning with Game 1 on Thursday, June 5 at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Indiana Fever, Purdue Boilermakers Prove Pacers' Rick Carlisle Right originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Between Bobby Knight, Larry Bird, Hoosiers, and high school gyms across the state, Indiana is the basketball capital of America, and the Indiana Pacers, after 25 years, finally punched their ticket to the NBA Finals.

Here are the winners and losers from the closeout game of the Eastern Conference finals between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks:

The Indiana Pacers are heading to the NBA Finals. After taking down the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals, Indiana has now clinched a spot to go

New York Knicks Have Two Scapegoats After Loss to Indiana Pacers originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Before the 2024-25 NBA season, the New York Knicks pulled off two of the biggest trades of the offseason, adding Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets and Karl-Anthony Towns from the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Tyrese Haliburton didn’t skip another chance to troll Knicks fans. After his Indiana Pacers eliminated the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals, Haliburton took aim at actor and Knicks superfan Ben Stiller.

Ben Stiller skipped the trip to Indianapolis for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Championships, and Spike Lee was nowhere to be found during the Knicks' last game of the playoffs.