Oklahoma City is halfway to the NBA Finals. And now, so is Indiana.
The Pacers pulled off another Madison Square Garden surprise Friday night, getting 39 points from Pascal Siakam and beating the New York Knicks to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
It's the first time the Knicks have lost the first two games of a series at home, and this is the first time in Knicks history that they've lost five home games in a single postseason.
Oklahoma City can take a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals when it plays at Minnesota on Saturday night. The Knicks-Pacers series shifts to Indianapolis on Sunday night.
SGA is the MVP
The story: Gilgeous-Alexander tops Jokic for MVP award
The reaction: SGA tears up when talking about his wife
Steve Nash speaks: Canada's 1st MVP thrilled to see SGA follow him
The notebook: Jokic finishes top-2 for 5th straight year, Giannis' streak ends, LeBron gets votes
Stories of note
— Nuggets take the interim tag off David Adelman, name him coach
— Tyrese Haliburton's dad is still enjoying the playoffs
— Meet Nick Gallo: The Thunder sideline reporter is a star
— Inside the numbers going into the conference finals
Saturday's national TV schedule
8:30 p.m. EDT — Oklahoma City at Minnesota (ESPN)
Sunday's national TV schedule
8 p.m. EDT — New York at Indiana (TNT)
Monday's national TV schedule
8:30 p.m. EDT — Oklahoma City at Minnesota (ESPN)
Tuesday's national TV schedule
8 p.m. EDT — New York at Indiana (TNT)
Betting odds
Oklahoma City (-300) is still the big favorite to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Indiana (+400) remains the second choice, followed by New York (+1800) and Minnesota (+2000).
The Thunder are a 2.5-point favorite over Minnesota on Saturday.
Conference finals schedules
East (all 8 p.m. EDT) — Game 1, Indiana 138, New York 135, OT; Game 2, Indiana 114, New York 109; Game 3 at Indiana on Sunday; Game 4 at Indiana on May 27; Game 5 at New York on May 29; Game 6 at Indiana on May 31; Game 7 at New York on June 2.
West (all 8:30 p.m. EDT) — Game 1, Oklahoma City 114, Minnesota 88; Game 2, Oklahoma City 118, Minnesota 103; Game 3 at Minnesota on Saturday, Game 4 at Minnesota on May 26, Game 5 at Oklahoma City on May 28, Game 6 at Minnesota on May 30, Game 7 at Oklahoma City on June 1.
An Indy doubleheader
Mark your calendars, then start your engines. “Pacers and Racers,” they call it.
For the first time since 2013, Indianapolis will play host to the Indy 500 and a Pacers home game on the same day.
It'll happen Sunday. The race starts the day, then Game 3 of the East finals is at 8 p.m.
Award season
The All-NBA team was revealed Friday with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum and Donovan Mitchell on the first team, and LeBron James — at 40 years old — making an All-NBA team for the 21st time.
Other awards this season:
— Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won the MVP award.
— Stephon Castle was a unanimous All-Rookie team selection.
— Oklahoma City's Sam Presti won executive of the year.
— Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson won coach of the year.
— Boston's Jrue Holiday won the social justice award and the sportsmanship award.
— Atlanta's Dyson Daniels won most improved player.
— San Antonio's Stephon Castle won rookie of the year.
— Golden State's Stephen Curry won the Twyman-Stokes teammate of the year award.
— Golden State's Draymond Green won the hustle award.
— Cleveland's Evan Mobley won defensive player of the year.
— New York's Jalen Brunson won clutch player of the year.
— Boston's Payton Pritchard won sixth man of the year.
Scoring leaders
The highest-scoring games by players so far in this year's playoffs:
48 — Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland vs. Indiana, May 6
44 — Nikola Jokic, Denver at Oklahoma City, May 13
43 — Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland vs. Indiana, May 9
43 — Jamal Murray, Denver vs. LA Clippers, April 29
43 — Anthony Edwards, Minnesota vs. LA Lakers, April 27
43 — Jalen Brunson, New York vs. Indiana, May 21
42 — Jayson Tatum, Boston at New York, May 12
42 — Nikola Jokic, Denver at Oklahoma City, May 5
40 — Jalen Brunson, New York at Detroit, May 1
39 — Jalen Brunson, New York vs. Boston, May 12
39 — Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers at Denver, April 21
39 — Pascal Siakam, Indiana at New York, May 23
Key upcoming events
June 1 — Last possible date for Game 7 of the Western Conference finals.
June 2 — Last possible date for Game 7 of Eastern Conference finals.
June 5 — Game 1, NBA Finals. (Other games: June 8, June 11, June 13, June 16, June 19 and Game 7, if necessary, will be June 22.)
June 25 — NBA draft, first round.
June 26 — NBA draft, second round.
Draft lottery
Dallas had 1.8% odds to win the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery — but overcame those odds and now has the opportunity to draft Cooper Flagg. The Mavericks won the lottery on Monday night in Chicago.
— Flagg, just a kid from Maine, hasn't forgotten his roots
— From Rutgers to the lottery for Harper, Bailey
— A Chinese teen is a draft hopeful, and has big shoes to fill
— Rick Welts has seen this before
Comeback season
There have been five wins by teams that trailed by 20 points or more so far in these playoffs. That's the most in any postseason during the play-by-play era, which started with the 1997 playoffs.
The biggest deficits that were successfully overcome:
29 — Oklahoma City at Memphis, April 24 (Thunder won 114-108)
20 — Indiana vs. Milwaukee, April 29 (Pacers won 119-118)
20 — New York at Boston, May 5 (Knicks won 108-105)
20 — Indiana at Cleveland, May 6 (Pacers won 120-119)
20 — New York at Boston, May 7 (Knicks won 91-90)
Last-second Pacers rallies
Indiana has now pulled off three last-minute rallies from at least seven points down to win in these playoffs:
— April 29: Trailed Milwaukee 118-111 with 34.6 seconds left in overtime, won 119-118.
— May 6: Trailed Cleveland 119-112 with 48 seconds left, won 120-119.
— May 21: Trailed New York 121-112 with 51.1 seconds left in regulation, won 138-135 in overtime.
Stats of the day
— The Knicks have lost five home games in the same postseason for the first time in team history.
— Jalen Brunson scored 36 for New York on Friday night, his eighth game of 30 or more points in these playoffs. That ties Bernard King for the most 30-point games by a Knick in a single postseason.
— The Pacers are 32-8 this season when Tyrese Haliburton has at least 10 assists. He had 11 in the Game 2 victory.
— Indiana has won six consecutive road playoff games (in the same season) for the first time in franchise history.
Quote of the day
“There are a lot of traps here. You cannot assume going home is going to be easier. It never is. Each game, as you ascend in a playoff series, becomes harder. And New York has an amazing fighting spirit." — Indiana coach Rick Carlisle, after the Pacers took a 2-0 lead over New York with a pair of road wins.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
Credit: AP
Credit: AP