Pacers beat Knicks to move one win shy of reaching NBA Finals

WASHINGTON: Tyrese Haliburton delivered his second career playoff triple double to power Indiana over New York 130-121 on Tuesday, lifting the Pacers one win from the NBA Finals.

Haliburton scored 32 points, passed off 15 assists and grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds while making no turnovers over 38 minutes becoming the first player in NBA playoff history with 30-15-10 and no turnovers.

Indiana, who blew a 20-point lead in a Game 3 home loss, seized a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals with the home triumph.

“I was just trying to be aggressive, trying to respond,” Haliburton said.

“I felt like I let the team down in game three so it was important to come out here and just make plays.

“Guys put me in position to make plays and play my game and man, it’s a big win for us.”

Game 5 is set for Thursday in New York’s Madison Square Garden.

“I’m excited about it. It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Haliburton said.

“It’s a tough environment to play in. We’ve got to be ready. Just one more game, take what we can from this and be ready for game five.”

The East winner will face either Oklahoma City or Minnesota in the NBA Finals starting June 5.

Haliburton’s father was in the arena after a month-long ban following an on-court incident with Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo earlier in the playoffs.

“Hell yeah. I’m glad pop is in the building,” Haliburton said. “It makes it that much more sweet. Had a little bit to do with it.”

Haliburton, who also had four steals, made 11-of-23 shots from the floor and 5-of-12 from three-point range.

“We tried giving him different looks,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We’ll look at the film. We just have to do better.”

Pascal Siakam added 30 points for the