Tyrese Haliburton scored 26 points for the visiting Indiana Pacers, who rode a historic shooting performance to a 130-109 win over the New York Knicks in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series Sunday afternoon.
Indiana shot 67.1 percent (53-of-79) from the field — the highest shooting percentage ever in an NBA playoff game. They broke the previous record held by the 1990 Boston Celtics, who shot 67 percent (63-of-94) in a 157-128 win over the Knicks in a first-round game.
The Pacers, who overcame series deficits of 2-0 and 3-2, will face the Boston Celtics in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals, scheduled to begin Tuesday night. This is the first trip to the conference finals for Indiana since 2014.
The Knicks, who played short-handed throughout the series and lost star point guard Jalen Brunson to a fractured left hand in the third quarter Sunday, fell short in their bid to appear in the conference finals for the first time since 2000.
Andrew Nembhard and Pascal Siakam each scored 20 points while Aaron Nesmith had 19 points on 8-of-8 shooting for the Pacers.
Myles Turner scored 17 points while T.J. McConnell added 12 points off the bench. The 130 points were the most by a road team in a Game 7 in NBA history.
Donte DiVincenzo scored 39 points for the Knicks, who played the series without All-Star Julius Randle (out since January with a right shoulder injury). Mitchell Robinson didn’t play after Game 1 due to an aggravation of his left ankle injury while OG Anunoby missed the previous four games with a left hamstring before scoring five points in fewer than five first-quarter minutes Sunday.
Josh Hart played 36-plus minutes Sunday despite an abdominal injury he suffered in Game 6 Friday night.
Alec Burks had 26 points Sunday while Brunson had 17 points and nine assists. Hart tallied 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists before fouling out.
The road team entered Sunday 0-6 in the series, but the Pacers took control with a blistering first half in which they led by as many as 22 while shooting 76.3 percent (29-of-38) from the field — the best shooting percentage in a half in an NBA playoff game in the last 25 years, per ESPN.
The Knicks scored the first seven points of the third quarter to begin a 12-3 run that pulled them within 73-67 with 8:06 left. But Indiana answered with a 22-9 run and led by at least 13 throughout the fourth quarter.
–Field Level Media