NBA: Siakam's Pacers reach Eastern Conference finals.

Pacers forward Pascal Siakam played a key role in the matchday five clash, putting up 21 points, eight rebounds, and five assists in Indiana Pacer's win. He produced the second-best performance for his team after Tyrese Haliburton.

The series-clinching win came after a late-game push by the Cavaliers, who headed for the clash with the Eastern Conference Number One seed tag. 

However, the Pacers did not give up without a proper fight, as Siakam and his teammates put up a commanding display on the court. The Pacers fought back from a 19-point, second-quarter deficit to eliminate the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers from the NBA playoffs.

The Pacers will face either the New York Knicks or the Boston Celtics for another shot at reaching the NBA Finals. The Knicks and Celtics play Game Five in Massachusetts, with New York holding a 3-1 series lead, and Boston missing star player Jayson Tatum due to a torn Achilles tendon.

The final could be a potential Pacers-Knicks rematch in the conference finals, something that has not happened in 25 years. Should the Knicks and Pacers square off in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Knicks would hold home-court advantage, with Games 1 and 2 taking place at Madison Square Garden.

The Pacers had been swept by the Celtics in last year's conference finals on Boston's way to an NBA title. This is the second straight season that Siakam and the Pacers have made the conference finals, making them the first team to do so as a Number Four seed or lower since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams in 1984.

The qualification of Siakam's Pacers for the Eastern Conference final, experts say, is one of the rarest conference finals runs ever seen in the NBA. Indiana is one of just six teams in history to shoot 50% from the field and 40% from 3 through its first 10 playoff games. 

They are also the first team in NBA history to have a different leading scorer in every game of at least a five-game series win. Siakam, for example, was the best scorer in Game Four with 21 points.

Siakam was traded to the Pacers on January 17, 2024, in a three-team trade in exchange for Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora, and Kira Lewis Jr and three first-round draft picks. Siakam is a three-time NBA All-Star and two-time All-NBA selection. He won the NBA Championship with the Toronto Raptors in 2019.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3449 of Thursday May 15, 2025