The Indiana Pacers are in the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2004 after eliminating the New York Knicks with a 106-99 win at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Game 6 on Saturday night.

The Pacers were led by a different player in each of their four wins over the Knicks and in Game 6 it was Lance Stephenson’s turn.

Stephenson, who can be maddening to watch, scored a career-high 25 points on 9-for-13 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds. The New York native had 16 points in the first half and exploded in the fourth when Indiana pulled away in what was the most exciting game of the series.

How can the fifth-most important starter on a team be exasperating to watch? Consider this sequence: Stephenson bricked a three from the right wing, then stole the ball on the ensuing possession and converted an old-fashioned (not exactly something you’d call ‘Born Ready’) three-point play.  

In the early going it looked as though the Pacers could run away with a series-clinching victory, but the Knicks refused to go down without a fight. More than four minutes into the second quarter the Pacers held an 18-5 edge on the glass but only had a six-point lead. Indiana closed out the first half well to lead 55-47 after 24 minutes.

New York shot 35.4 percent in the first half and Indiana held a 25-15 rebounding edge. Uncharacteristically, the Pacers hit 50 percent of their shots. As we’ve come to expect, they turned the ball over eight times.

As the Pacers flirted with a finishing punch in the third quarter, the Knicks finally exploded from deep. Indiana did a great job of pushing New York off the three-point line and closing out on shooters all series, but they lost Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith over a 108-second stretch that saw the Knicks go on a 12-2 run. Shumpert and Smith combined to hit four-straight threes to erase a double-digit deficit and tie the game at 72.

The Knicks went 6-for-7 from deep in the quarter and outrebounded the Pacers by four as they took control of the momentum heading into the fourth period. Early in the fourth New York was winning the 50/50 battles, but Indiana owned the last five minutes. 

The fulcrum of the game turned out to be Roy Hibbert’s tremendous block on Carmelo Anthony with the Knicks ahead 92-90. The Pacers seemed to have all the energy after the rejection. Stephenson then went on a one-man run to push his team into the next round.

“That block, I think it spearheaded the run they made,” Anthony said at the podium after the game.

Hill Plays, But Isn’t Right

George Hill was active for Game 6 on Saturday night despite missing the last game after suffering a concussion on Tuesday night in Game 4. It’s hard to quantify what his presence meant to the team, but it was obvious that he wasn’t 100 percent.

He finished 2-for-10 and front-rimmed a number of shots, a sign of fatigue and weak legs, but Hill was a game-high +12. He did his job at the line (7-for-7), but went just 1-for-6 from deep (a shot the Pacers will need against the Miami Heat). By avoiding a Game 7, Hill will have some time to rest up and heal before the Conference Finals start.

Carmelo Takes More Heat

Carmelo Anthony seemed to bring all he could with New York’s season on the line, scoring 39 points on 15-for-29 shooting, but all you will hear is how he performed in the fourth quarter. He made just two of his seven attempts with four points and three turnovers with the game in the balance.

“I don’t think it was fatigue and they didn’t make any adjustments,” Anthony said when asked about his rough fourth quarter. “A couple shots were almost in. We got some great looks coming down the stretch, shots that when we take we normally make. We got those looks tonight. We got what we wanted in the fourth quarter, but they just didn’t go down for us.”

Anthony has been dealing with shoulder issues since the end of the regular season, and appeared bothered by them once again in Game 6, and he also turned his ankle in the second half of this one.

More of the blame for this loss belongs on Mike Woodson and the lack of a consistent supporting cast. He has had to hoist an amazing amount of shots just to get the Knicks to the sixth game of a second-round series. Anthony simply looked tired on Saturday night.

Questioning Woodson

A lot went wrong for the Knicks in the second half, but they looked great in the third quarter and received a number of clutch shots from Iman Shumpert and Chris Copeland. The duo combined for 22 points on 7-for-10 shooting after halftime, with Shumpert single-handedly bringing New York back in the game.

After Shumpert scored 16 points in the third quarter, he played less than seven minutes in the fourth quarter and didn’t attempt a single field goal. How can that happen? Anthony is your clear-cut No. 1 (and perhaps No. 2 option as well), but with the season on the line you must at the very least give the hot hand a few chances to extend his run.

Copeland brought great energy to the floor all series, but only got significant time in in the last two contests.

Woodson didn’t have a perfect roster to work with, but you have to question some of the decisions made down the stretch – including time management with the season ticking away.

Golden Five

It was fitting that the Pacers took the podium as a group after Saturday night’s closeout victory given the balance they provide. Consider this: Anthony led New York in scoring in all six games. Each member of the starting five led Indiana in scoring at least once against New York (Paul George did so twice).

That makes them hard to double defensively because any open player can get hot and take advantage of open looks. It killed the Knicks when they doubled-down on Hibbert in the paint and the perimeter combination of George and Hill didn’t even shoot well from the perimeter.

Quite simply, the only way the Pacers can threaten the Heat and advance to the NBA Finals is to receive offensive balance from their first five, defend the three, limit turnovers and get something substantial from their bench.

Concussion has become a polarizing medical ailment across the sports community in recent years. The four major sports have implemented a protocol when dealing with head injuries as alarming health consequences have been revealed and seen in retired athletes.

Just hours before they were to take on the New York Knicks in Game 5 of their semifinal playoff series on Thursday night, the Indiana Pacers learned that they would be without George Hill because of a concussion suffered two nights earlier. Hill, who took a number of hard blows in Game 4, reportedly suffered the head injury on a hard foul by Tyson Chandler.

Hill complained of a headache during the Pacers' morning practice session on Thursday and took the NBA’s required concussion test a few hours later. He failed and was forced to watch his team lose at Madison Square Garden from the dimly-lit trainer’s room.

Hindsight is 20/20 and a concussion is a serious issue, but you have to wonder when Hill began feeling the symptoms. Frank Vogel said Thursday night that the point guard felt symptoms “at some point over the last two days.”

As Mike Wells astutely reported, Tyler Hansbrough urged Hill to undergo testing for a concussion. Hansbrough dealt with vertigo during his rookie season after suffering one.

The NBA instituted uniform concussion protocol before the 2011-12 season, making this season the first full campaign of its existence. There are undoubtedly numerous concussions that go undiagnosed. A player must feel the right symptoms, disclose them to his team’s medical staff and then they must be deemed serious enough for testing. From player to player, pain levels vary and the male ego comes into play as well.

It’s possible that in this case Hill felt off on Wednesday, but decided to wait before informing any team employees. Indiana went into Game 5 with a 3-1 series lead and three chances to eliminate New York and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

By my count, there were 13 diagnosed concussions in the NBA this season (including Hill and not including Harrison Barnes) that officially made their way onto a medical report. Darrell Arthur of the Memphis Grizzlies suffered two in less than three months, which makes him an interesting case going forward.

As you might expect, the wording of the league policy leaves a lot to infer. The Pacers have listed Hill as “day-to-day,” which makes sense given that the season is day-to-day in the playoffs. A player must pass a series of tests before returning to the floor, including a handful of non-contact and conditioning drills. There is a line in the rulebook that has alarmed many around the Pacers: “The process will likely take at least several days, if not weeks.”

Every case is different and all that means is that it’s impossible to determine when he will return. However, there is precedent for Hill to return as early as Saturday night, if not for possible games on Monday (Game 7) or Wednesday (Game 1 against the Miami Heat).

Arthur absorbed a blow to the head on Dec. 14, 2012 and initially had a “dental issue.” He was then diagnosed with what the Grizzlies called a “mild” concussion and missed the team’s next game. He was back on the floor three days later on Dec. 17, 2012. Arthur suffered a second concussion on March 3 and didn’t suit up again until March 22. There has been no indication that his quick return from the first concussion led to the second.

When looking at cases this season, I wasn’t concerned with the number of games missed by a concussed player, but rather the number of days they sat out. My sample size dropped to 11 cases because C.J. Miles of the Cleveland Cavaliers suffered a concussion on April 7 and never played another game.

Those players that failed a concussion test and returned this season – John Jenkins, Nikola Vucevic, Darrell Arthur, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Chris Kaman, Pau Gasol, Marvin Williams, Jeff Pendergraph and Anthony Davis – missed an average of 11 days.

Chris Kaman missed 27 days spanning January and February with a severe concussion, while Jenkins, Kidd-Gilchrist, Williams, Pendergraph and Davis all missed about a week.

It’s impossible to predict when Hill will be able to return to the floor – it could be Saturday, a few games into a potential series with the Heat or even the first game of the 2013-14 season – and to try and guess one way or the other is a losing proposition.

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In a game that the New York Knicks should have run away with, the Indiana Pacers narrowly missed an opportunity to steal one on the road and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals in the process.

The Knicks jumped out to a 7-0 lead at Madison Square Garden and never trailed on Thursday night to extend the series and force a sixth game. Indiana was without George Hill (concussion) and struggled mightily on offense, but still had a number of chances to close out the series.

“We were never out of the game. We just couldn’t get over the hump,” Roy Hibbert said afterward. “Unfortunately, we turned the ball over and we fouled. We didn’t have that last little push that we usually have.”

The Pacers were especially anemic on offense without their starting point guard, who was ruled out shortly before Game 5. Hill suffered the concussion on a hit from Tyson Chandler in Tuesday night’s Game 4. He watched the game from the dim trainer’s room after complaining of symptoms following this morning’s shootaround. His status for the remainder of the series is in doubt.

“Anytime you lose a guy like that, especially with the load he carries for us, it hurts,” David West said. “We had to play Lance [Stephenson] at the point guard for stretches, but we are a no-excuse group. We just didn’t play a complete enough game to close this team out on their home floor.”

Indiana shot 36.2 percent from the field, including 29.3 percent in the first half, and couldn’t convert easy points in transition or at the foul line. Turnovers have been a problem for the Pacers for the last month and the absence of Hill compounded the issue.

“It’s our Achilles heel,” Paul George said of turnovers at the podium. “In the fourth quarter there were a couple of possessions in a row where we just didn’t do a good job of taking care of the ball with their pressure. That’s just maturity for our team, it’s gotta be growth for us.”

D.J. Augustin, starting in Hill’s place, had an opportunity to earn himself some money this summer with a big performance. Instead, he finished with 12 points, two turnovers and not a single assist on 3-for-9 shooting in the 85-75 loss. He may have turned the ball over just twice in the box score, but he made several ill-advised passes. The most glaring came on a forced behind-the-back look to George on a botched fast break.

New York’s biggest lead was just 11 points, but they did a tremendous job of keeping the Pacers at arm’s length. A three by George narrowed the deficit to 75-71 with more than six minutes left in fourth quarter, but he answered it with an airball and the Knicks went on a 6-0 run to ensure victory.

Mike Woodson went back to his smaller lineup in this one after experimenting with Kenyon Martin as a starter in Game 4. The Pacers out-rebounded the Knicks by three despite the 10-point loss. The margin would have been larger had Hibbert not struggled with foul trouble.

He played just under 31 minutes and had nine points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Hibbert averaged 12.5 points, 10.7 rebounds and three blocks over the first four games.

The Knicks led 40-34 at the half and while the Pacers started the third quarter with an uncharacteristic flurry of points, they went on to commit 13 turnovers in the second half. Indiana really had no business challenging New York in this game when you consider how poorly they played.

“The game was right there for us,” West said with an exasperated look. “We had some costly turnovers, guys not following assignments. That goes down to concentration late in the game. We just didn’t make enough plays in this environment.

“You don’t get many opportunities to win a close-out game at Madison Square Garden and we just didn’t play well enough to complete that task.”

It’s no surprise that the Pacers constantly threatened because of their defense. They held New York to 41 percent shooting, sent them to the foul line just 17 times and limited them to seven made three-pointers. With a slightly-above average offense (and a healthy Danny Granger) this series just might have ended in a sweep.

Copeland Effect

Woodson finally removed Chris Copeland (29 combined minutes in the first four games) from his imaginary doghouse and the dreadlocked-rookie responded with inspiring play. In just under 20 minutes, he registered 13 points and four rebounds. He went 4-for-6 from the floor, hitting a number of timely three-pointers to answer Indiana rallies.

J.R. Smith was a bit better (4-for-11), but didn’t contribute enough for the Knicks to win without Copeland’s support. With Hill out I expected Raymond Felton to go off, but he didn’t capitalize on Augustin’s poor defense. Felton went 6-for-14 with 12 points and had four assists. He didn’t start really attacking until the second half when he suddenly realized that Augustin was incapable of sticking him.

Felton did do a great job of exposing the Pacers when Hibbert went to the bench with his fourth foul early in the third quarter. Ian Mahinmi has done a decent job of protecting the rim in the postseason, but New York got a lot of production from the roll man on pick-and-rolls with Felton with Hibbert on the bench.

Missing Freebies

It will be beaten to death between now and Saturday night’s Game 6, but the truth is that the Pacers may have ultimately lost this game at the foul line. You can’t let that happen in the postseason. They went 8-for-16 from the charity stripe in the first half and finished 19-for-33 (57.6 percent).

“It’s just guys not concentrating. We talked about it this morning; we need every single point out there,” West said. “I think we missed eight in the first half and that’s just guys not stepping up to the plate.”

Over their first 10 playoff games, Indiana shot 76.2 percent from the foul line. If they had shot that percentage on Thursday night, six additional points would have been scored and the entire complexion of the game would have changed.

Paul George vs. Carmelo Anthony

The energy that George has had to expend on the defensive end is really starting to show on the other end of the floor. He did another great job on Anthony -- helping hold Carmelo to 12-for-28 shooting for as many points as shot attempts -- but shot 7-for-18 himself.

George, who tallied 23 points, six rebounds and six assists in the loss, is shooting 34.8 percent (30-for-86) through five games, including an abysmal run from downtown. He is 10-for-42 (23.8 percent) from three in the series. He is also averaging five turnovers per game.

Conversely, Anthony is shooting 41.3 percent (50-for-121) against the Pacers.