With 4:20 remaining in regulation and the Indiana Pacers enjoying a 16-point lead over the New York Knicks in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, Gainbridge Fieldhouse was already in a celebratory mode, sensing the franchise's first NBA finals trip since 2000. Tyrese Haliburton, who had made his previous five shots to erase any hope of the Knicks stealing a miraculous comeback out of the Pacers' postseason playbook, had a fadeaway blocked. But Pascal Siakam secured the offensive rebound and kicked it to Haliburton, who fed it to Andrew Nembhard for a wide-open triple to extend the lead to 113-94 and take the roof off the building.

It was an exclamation point to a game that Nembhard dominated on the defensive end of the court, flustering New York with six steals -a figure only three

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