The Indiana Pacers are headed home, halfway to a chance to play for an elusive NBA title.
They might prefer to stay right where they are.
Pascal Siakam scored a playoff career-high 39 points, and the Pacers beat the New York Knicks 114-109 on Friday night for a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
Game 3 is Sunday night in Indiana, which will be rocking all day long with the Indianapolis 500 being run that afternoon. The Pacers can only hope to be as good there as they’ve been on the road, where they have won six straight games since falling at Milwaukee in Game 3 of the first round.
“We have a long way to go and it’s only going to get tougher for us,” Siakam said.
Myles Turner added 16 points and Tyrese Haliburton had 14 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for the Pacers, who lost to the Lakers in 2000 in their only NBA Finals appearance.
Siakam finished 15 for 23 from the field on a night nobody else on the high-scoring Pacers had more than five baskets.
“Special game,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “In the first half he was the guy that got us going and got us through some difficult stretches.”
No team has lost the first two games at home and come back to win a series in the conference finals.
“Going into the fourth quarter it’s a tie ballgame. We’ve just got to make better plays, more winning plays,” Thibodeau said.
