Pacers fans roar for new Indy 500 champ Alex Palou at Game 3 against Knicks

By Canadian Press on May 25, 2025.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis 500 winner Alex Palou received a rousing standing ovation when he was introduced Sunday during the second quarter of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Palou brought the winner’s wreath and wore the jersey of Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, a two-time All-Star, as the video of his celebration on the track was played on the stadium’s video screen.

Palou made the short trek from Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he won the race in the afternoon, to Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where the Pacers were hosting their longtime rival New York Knicks. It marked only the fourth time in the 109 Indianapolis 500s the Pacers hosted a playoff game on race day and Indiana lost all three of the previous games — in 1999, 2004 and 2013.

Indiana coach Rick Carlisle opened his pregame news conference by congratulating Palou, noting he was the first Spaniard to win while calling it a “great race.”

Indiana took a 2-0 series lead by winning the first two games in New York.

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The Associated Press