It was a return to Pacers basketball that overwhelmed the Knicks in Game 6 and set up a clash with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Indiana Pacers are off to the NBA Finals for the second time in franchise history after beating the New York York Knicks, 125-108, in Game 6 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday night to win the Eastern Conference Finals,

These are the two best teams in the league at avoiding turnovers on offense, and two of the league leaders in pace. Neither is reliant on the three-point shot after both placed in the bottom half of the league in three-point rate during the regular season.

The Pacers return to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000 and they face a Thunder team that posted the fifth-most wins in NBA history.

For the New York Knicks, this was the best season in a quarter of a century. They made it back to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since the Allan Houston-Latrell Sprewell-Patrick

Tyrese Haliburton followed his magical Game 4 with a muted performance, with just eight points on 2-7 shooting and six assists. Bennedict Mathurin had another strong night, scoring 23 points in 25 minutes, and Pascal Siakam scored 15 points on just 5-13 shooting.

Still, the evidence is right in front of them: The teams advancing and the teams booking flights to Cancun have distinct differences. The NBA will always be a star’s league. But the teams that win it all? They’re deeper than the headlines.