INDIANAPOLIS — The Pacers wasted one chance to wrap up the Eastern Conference finals.

They don’t intend to let it happen again.

On Saturday, two nights after an uncharacteristically poor performance on the road, the Pacers will get their second shot to clinch the franchise’s second NBA Finals appearance, at home against the Knicks.

“They played better than us, and I just think we’ve been an amazing team all year at bouncing back,” Pacers forward Pascal Siakam said after Thursday’s 111-94 loss. “Our strength has been being together, fighting hard together, staying together no matter what. Nobody had us being here — right now we’re up 3-2 in the conference finals.”

They’ve certainly exceeded expectations.

The Pacers finished fourth in the Eastern Conference, despite starting 10-15, and then eliminated Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks in the first round for the second straight season before sweeping three road games to eliminate the top-seeded Cavaliers in five games.

No NBA team has been more proficient in bounce-back games lately than the Pacers. They haven’t lost consecutive contests since March 10 and of the eight teams to make the conference semifinals, three share the distinction of fewest losses with four — the Pacers, Western Conference champion Thunder and the Cavaliers.

How good have the Pacers been at overcoming challenges? They erased deficits of eight or more points in the final 50 seconds of regulation or overtime in two victories, something that happened only one other time since 1997-98.

Now the Pacers have a chance to replicate a feat Reggie Miller, Mark Jackson and their teammates achieved 25 years ago — beating the Knicks in six games to reach The Finals. There’s just one difference: Those Pacers clinched at Madison Square Garden.

But there are also questions about what the Pacers must fix after producing their lowest scoring total of the postseason, the litany of bad passes that resulted in 20 turnovers and failing to close out a series on their first chance, something they succeeded at in their last four series wins. Two-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton knows what to expect.

“They’re going to come out and play hard, increase the pressure, do whatever they’ve got to do to win,” he said. “They did a great job of that (Thursday). Now it’s on us to respond in Game 6. When you get here, to this point, there’s no such thing as surprises; you’ve got to be prepared for everything.”

It likely means seeing more of the same from the Knicks, who plugged Mitchell Robinson into the starting lineup, expanded its rotation and saw Karl-Anthony Towns drive to the basket more often in each of the past three games. The combination delivered the Knicks’ first two wins despite Towns playing with a sore left knee. Their only loss during that stretch came courtesy of Haliburton’s historic Game 4 stat line of 32 points, 15 assists, 12 rebounds and four steals with no turnovers.