Pacers oust Knicks; will face Heat next
Lance Stephenson scored nine of his playoff career-high 23 points during a late 11-2 run Saturday night to lead the host Pacers past the Knicks, 106-99, and into the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2004.
Lance Stephenson scored nine of his playoff career-high 23 points during a late 11-2 run Saturday night to lead the host Pacers past the Knicks, 106-99, and into the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2004.
Next up is a rematch with Miami, the team that eliminated Indiana last season. Game 1 will be Wednesday at Miami.
Carmelo Anthony scored 39 points and Iman Shumpert had 19 for New York.
Indiana is 6-0 at home in the playoffs, but this one sure wasn't easy. The Pacers trailed, 92-90, with 5:43 left in the game, before rallying after Roy Hibbert blocked Anthony's dunk attempt and Stephenson scored on a layup.
Indiana limited New York to 40 percent shooting, had a 43-36 rebounding advantage.
Kings have new owner
The Kings' unsteady future is finally settled: The team will have a new principal owner and it will stay in Sacramento.
The Maloof family have sold the Kings to a group led by software billionaire Vivek Ranadive, making him the first Indian-born owner in NBA history.
The deal, which includes plans for a new downtown arena, values the Kings at $535 million, the most in league history. Ranadive's group will pay $347 million for 65 percent stake in the franchise.
"We want to restore this team to its former greatness," the 55-year-old native of Mumbai told the Sacramento Bee on Friday.
Ranadive, founder of Tibco Software Inc. and a minority owner of the Warriors, will have to sell his stake in the Warriors once the NBA officially approves the deal
Approval from the league is expected this week.
- Wire reports