A small pack of dejected New York Knicks fans ended up on the wrong end of good-natured heckling: “Hicks in six!” This Midwestern ecstasy was 25 years in the making. The Pacers pulled away from the Knicks with a hot-shooting third quarter and rode a splendid effort from star forward Pascal Siakam to claim a 125-108 victory in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals Saturday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse,

All of those teams, however, had established themselves as stronger Finals contenders by the start of the playoffs. The 1977 Blazers, 2002 Nets and 2022 Celtics were all top-two seeds, while the 1978 Sonics and 2020 Heat both benefited from wide-open playoffs due to uncertainty around Walton's injury and the Orlando bubble, respectively.

Indiana Pacers' NBA Finals run ranks among most surprising ever with 50-1 preseason odds, joining 2020 Heat and 2002 Nets as biggest upsets.