NEW YORK, United States — Tyrese Haliburton pulled the Reggie Miller’s iconic choke sign celebration after draining a step-back jumper at the buzzer that sent Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals into overtime.
Then the Indiana Pacers completed another magical comeback with a gutsy 138-135 win over the New York Knicks in overtime on Wednesday night (Thursday Manila time) in front of a stunned, sold-out Madison Square Garden crowd.
TYRESE MF HALIBURTON NO WAY
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) May 22, 2025
The Knicks led by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter until Aaron Nesmith caught fire.
Nesmith made his best Miller impression, scoring 20 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter. He hit five straight 3-pointers inside the final five minutes of the regulation to will the Pacers back into the game.
Nesmith on ???? pic.twitter.com/Ovi9XpmW9x
— alder almo (@alderalmo) May 22, 2025
Then, Haliburton made the last shot with the ball bouncing from the back iron before going in.
The Pacers were denied a one-point win in the regulation as replay showed Haliburton’s foot was inside the 3-point line.
Crazy ending! pic.twitter.com/Cffjfulsxv
— alder almo (@alderalmo) May 22, 2025
Haliburton thought it was a 3-pointer, so he pulled the choke sign with Miller at courtside doing television duties for the TNT broadcast.
“It felt right at the time,” Haliburton said of the choke sign. “If I had known it was a two, I would not have done it. I might have wasted it. If I do it again, people might say I’m aura-farming. I don’t plan on using it again.”
Haliburton had 31 points and 11 assists to pace the Pacers, who had similar comeback wins in the earlier rounds of the playoffs.
They clinched their first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks after coming back from a seven-point deficit in the final 34 seconds of overtime. Then in the second round, they stole Game 2 from the No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers after trailing by seven points with 46 seconds left in regulation.
In both eight-point comeback wins, Haliburton delivered the game-winning shot.
This time, the Pacers’ star hit the game-tying shot.
The Knicks opened the extra period with two straight baskets, but the Pacers outscored them the rest of the way, 13-6, to steal Game 1 and the homecourt advantage.
Game 2 is on Friday (Saturday Manila time) at Madison Square Garden.
Brunson gave New York its last lead, 135-134, with a floater with 36 seconds left in overtime.
Indiana closed out the game with an Andrew Nembhard layup and a baseline dunk from Obi Toppin, a former Knick, that sealed the improbable win for the Pacers.
The painful loss washed away Brunson’s 43-point performance.
Jalen Brunson is feasting on Pacers defense — Nembhard or Nesmith — it doesn’t matter. pic.twitter.com/QfUmQvNbNk
— alder almo (@alderalmo) May 22, 2025
Karl-Anthony Towns added a monster double-double (35 points and 12 rebounds) effort that was not enough.
KAT the Acrobat! pic.twitter.com/AvrgLFyNEH
— alder almo (@alderalmo) May 22, 2025
“We played 46 good minutes. Those [final] two minutes [in the regulation] are where we lost the game, and that’s on all of us,” Towns said. “We’ve all got to be better. We’ve all got to step up to the plate.”
The Knicks’ collapse was an all-time choke job.
They became the first team to lose a game after leading by at least 14 points in the final 2:45 of the fourth quarter in the play-by-play era.
Before this game, teams with that huge lead were 994-0 since the 1997-98 season.
“In the playoffs, when you win, it’s the best thing ever. When you lose, it’s the worst thing ever,” Brunson said. “The best way to deal with all that is to stay level-headed and make sure we have each other’s backs.”
Despite the deflating loss that saw them trail in a series for the first time in this postseason, the Knicks shouldn’t feel down, as history is on their side.
When Miller did the choke sign — after scoring 25 points in the fourth quarter — in a Game 5 win in the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals, the Pacers lost Games 6 and 7.
“I’ve seen that ‘Winning Time’ documentary probably like 50 times growing up, so I know that [Pacers] didn’t win the series,” Haliburton said. “I would not like to repeat that.”
The Knicks did come back to beat the Pacers in 1994 after Miller’s choke sign, but they ultimately lost in the NBA Finals.
“It’s our job to make history,” Towns said. “We’re not here to repeat history, we’re here to make history.”
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Alder Almo is a former senior sportswriter for Philstar.com and NBA.com Philippines. He is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey, and writes for US-based publication Heavy.com.
