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

They don’t intend to let it happen again.

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, today at home against the New York 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.

Indiana finished fourth in the Eastern Conference, despite starting 10-15, and then eliminated Giannis Antetokounmpo and Milwaukee in the first round for the second straight season before sweeping three road games to eliminate top-seeded Cleveland 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 — Indiana, Western Conference champion Oklahoma City and the Cavaliers.

How good has Indiana been at overcoming challenges? They erased deficits of eight or more points in the final 50 seconds of regulation or overtime in two victories.

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.

But there are 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.

Pelicans’ Williamson sued: Zion Williamson is being sued by a woman describing herself as a former dating partner and who alleges the New Orleans Pelicans star committed repeated sexual violence against her.

The civil lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday night, identifies the plaintiff as “Jane Doe.” She claims she began dating Williamson in 2018, when he played at Duke, and alleges that he engaged in abusive behavior toward her in California, Louisiana and Texas from 2020 until their relationship ended in 2023.

Williamson’s New Orleans-based attorney, Michael Balascio, called the claims in the lawsuit “categorically false and reckless,” and accused the plaintiff of extortion.

The lawsuit alleges that the first instance of sexual violence occurred in a home Williamson had rented in Beverly Hills.

The lawsuit also alleges that Williamson temporarily took the plaintiff’s mobile phone from her after the first two instances of forced intercourse and also took her laptop after the second.

The complaint includes accusations of strangulation, death threats to the plaintiff and her family, and physical abuse, including being kicked, slammed with a car door, and suffocated until she lost consciousness.