Pacers fend off Knicks, go home up 2-0 in East finals

Pascal Siakam scored a playoff career-best 39 points and the Indiana Pacers picked up their second straight road triumph in the series by outclassing the New York Knicks 114-109 on Friday night in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals.Siakam made 15 of 23 field-goal attempts to set the tone for Indiana’s sixth consecutive playoff road victory. Myles Turner had 16 points and Tyrese Haliburton added 14 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for the Pacers.Jalen Brunson scored 36 points to set a Knicks postseason record of 19 30-point outings. He made five 3-pointers and added 11 assists.Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges each had 20 points and seven rebounds for New York.Game 3 is Sunday night at Indianapolis.The Knicks trailed by 10 before ripping off nine straight late points. Anunoby made two free throws and Brunson added five straight points to cut Indiana’s lead to 110-107 with 1:06 remaining. Josh Hart scored on a layup with 14.7 seconds left to bring New York within one.Aaron Nesmith was fouled without any time coming off the clock and made both free throws to put the Pacers ahead by three. Brunson missed a long 3-pointer with just over eight seconds left before Turner made both free throws to give Indiana the final five-point margin with 4.2 seconds to go.Ben Sheppard and Siakam knocked down consecutive 3-pointers to cap an 11-2 run as Indiana broke a tie and took a 94-85 advantage with 9:17 remaining in the game.New York was within 103-99 before Haliburton drained a trey and Siakam made two free throws to give the Pacers a nine-point lead with 3:23 to play.