INDIANAPOLIS, May 18, (AP): Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle challenged his team to play more physically and more tenaciously.
His desperate team responded with one of its most inspired performances all season.

Pascal Siakam finished with 25 points and seven rebounds, Myles Turner added 17 points and eight rebounds, and the Pacers turned the tables on the New York Knicks with a 116-103 victory to even the Eastern Conference semifinals at 3-3.

The decisive Game 7 will be played Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
"I thought Game 5 was our least aggressive game in the playoffs,” Carlisle said. "We played hard tonight, which was a must. They came out hard tonight, which was evident, but we moved the ball better, we got more rebounds and that's been a big part of this series.”

Indiana had two days to figure out how to contend with the Knicks' hustle plays and their strength on the glass, two things that led to Tuesday's 30-point blowout in Game 5 and put the Pacers on the brink of elimination.

This time, the Pacers held a 47-35 rebounding edge and even had a slight 14-13 advantage on the offensive end. And they had balanced scoring, too, which spread out the Knicks defense.
Tyrese Haliburton and Andrew Nembhard each scored 15 points, with Nembhard pulling down six rebounds and dishing out six assists. Haliburton had nine assists as Indiana kept its perfect postseason home record intact at 6-0, in front of a raucous sellout crowd that helped re-energize the Pacers during key moments.
"We knew they were going to play hard coming off the last game, and that's what it's about," Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. "We're just going to have to play a lot better.”