For the first time since 2000, the are in the NBA Finals.
Indiana topped the in a climactic Game 6 on Saturday night, securing its place with the in the battle for the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy. The Eastern Conference finals were a throwback to 2000, when the Pacers defeated New York in six games to earn their most recent NBA Finals berth.
led Indiana to victory on Saturday with 31 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks and a steal to be named series MVP. Siakam had three 30-point games in the conference finals, tied for the most in a single series with in 2001, according to ESPN Research.
contributed to the dominant Game 6 win with 21 points and 13 assists.
From sports to movies to the Pacers themselves, going back to that time 25 years ago offers a trip down memory lane and some unlikely threads to the current age of pop culture and Indiana’s squad.
Here’s a look at what things were like the last time the Pacers played in the NBA Finals.
It was a fun stretch for fans of basketball and hockey …
Around the same time the Pacers and were competing for the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy, the final series in the quest for the Stanley Cup was underway in the NHL.
The matchup between the and the proved to be a dramatic affair. Four of the series’ six games were decided by one-goal margins, and Games 5 and 6 featured a combined five overtime periods. New Jersey jumped out to a 3-1 series lead, and center Jason Arnott eventually lit the lamp in the second overtime of Game 6 to clinch the Devils’ second Stanley Cup.
Elsewhere in the sports world …
On the green, was gearing up for a remarkable summer. Two weeks after Pacers-Lakers Game 6, Woods would win his first U.S. Open , a record for a major win that still stands. In July, Woods would win the British Open to complete a career Grand Slam, and in August he would nab the PGA Championship.
Woods’ PGA Championship triumph at Louisville’s Valhalla Golf Club made him the first golfer to capture three majors in one calendar year since Ben Hogan achieved the feat in 1953.
On the charts …
“Maria Maria” by Santana, featuring The Product G&B, topped the charts for the first half of the 2000 Finals. The final week of its 10-week stretch as the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 began the day before Game 3. The song landed at No. 3 on Billboard’s year-end Hot 100. Interestingly, the No. 1 song — “Breathe” by Faith Hill — never reached No. 1 on a weekly chart.
At the box office …
“Mission: Impossible II” wrapped up its second weekend at the top of the domestic box office just before Game 1 of the Pacers-Lakers series.
The second film in the “Mission: Impossible” series starring Tom Cruise grossed over $57 million domestically on opening weekend, the best of any film that year. It went on to become 2000’s highest-grossing film worldwide, .
Coincidentally, the eighth and most recent movie in the “Mission: Impossible” series was released in U.S. theaters May 23, during the Pacers’ current run.
A current Pacers star is born …
Most of the players who have had a pivotal role in Indiana’s return to the Finals this year likely weren’t following along the last time the Pacers competed for the league title.
Star guard was only a few months old at the time of the Pacers-Lakers series. (He was born in February 2000.) Stalwart forward , born in April 1994, had recently turned 6. Center , born in March 1996, was 4.
The team’s current coach, Rick Carlisle, was following along closely, though; he was an assistant coach with the Pacers that season. The 1999-2000 campaign would be his last assistant gig before becoming head coach of the two seasons later, his first top job.
