What this epic New York Knicks collapse means for the series with Indiana Pacers — and for their title chances
There is nothing like the sound of 19,812 people saying absolutely nothing, but thinking exactly the same thing.
Shhhhhhhhhhh!
They yelled as Karl-Anthony Towns went to the free throw line with 14 seconds left in the fourth quarter with a rapidly dwindling lead.
Shhhhhhhhhhh!
They yelled as OG Anunoby stepped to the line with seven seconds left, hoping that quiet would somehow help him focus and keep the rising collective dread at bay.
But the quiet did little to stop what had become shockingly, suddenly apparent: The New York Knicks were once again face-to-face with the ghosts of their playoff past.
And frankly, it was a little on the nose. Reggie Miller, the Knick killer from those playoff battles 30 years ago, was courtside again, this time on the call for TNT as the Indiana Pacers reenacted some of his greatest moments Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals at Madison Square Garden.
He was there postgame, pointing at Tyrese Haliburton after the brash young guard paid tribute to him by reenacting Miller’s famous choke gesture at the end of Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference finals, when he scored 25 of his game-high 39 points in the fourth quarter and engaged in the legendary back-and-forth with Spike Lee that spawned a 30 for 30, “Winning Time,” in 2010.
Haliburton said he’s watched that documentary “probably 50 times” growing up and had been waiting — over the course of two separate playoff series — for the right moment to reenact Miller’s “choke” gesture in front of the MSG crowd.
“That’s just a historic moment,” Haliburton said after the game. “Obviously him versus Spike, kind of the one-on-one. I felt like [my gesture] was kind of to everybody. But to [Miller], too. I wanted him to see it more than anything.”
Miller saw it all right. So did all the Knicks legends who attended Wednesday night’s game and spent 46 minutes thinking they were on their way to exorcising some of those playoff demons, only to leave shaking their heads at the newest heartbreak they’ll have to digest.
Just a few minutes before Haliburton hit one of the cruelest bounce-off-the-rim shots in NBA playoff history to tie the game at the end of regulation, the Knicks had shown all their franchise legends up on the jumbotron.
First Amar’e Stoudemire, then Carmelo Anthony. Then John Starks, Latrell Sprewell, Larry Johnson, Bernard King, Patrick Ewing, Stephon Marbury, Walt Clyde Frazier, and Baron Davis.
There were others, too. And celebrities like Timothee Chalamet, Larry David and Ben Stiller. All of them knew the history of this rivalry.
And at the moment it seemed the Knicks had finally built a large enough lead to show them on the big screen and let everyone applaud with a clear conscience.
The Knicks led by 14 points with 2:51 to go in regulation. That, by most any measure, is a safe lead. That is when fans turn to each other and decide whether to leave early to beat the crowds.
That is when thoughts of playoff ghosts finally quiet down.
But the seeds of the Pacers’ comeback had just started germinating.
With 4:45 to go, Brunson stumbled trying to fight through a Thomas Bryant screen at the top of the key, leaving Aaron Nesmith open for a 3-pointer at the top of the key.
Nobody thought much of it at the time. But afterward, Brunson said he felt that’s when the game started to turn.
“Once he hits one, you’ve got to be on high alert,” Brunson said. “I’ve got to do a better job of finding him. I think he had like one or two with me in the vicinity.”
Nesmith went on to hit six 3-pointers in the final 4:45 minutes of regulation.
On the broadcast, Miller coolly rubbed salt in those wounds.
“Another 3 by Nesmith,” Miller said after Nesmith hit his second 3 of the fourth quarter. “That’s the great equalizer in our game.”
Few players in history know that better than him.
“Oh my goodness,” he yelled after Nesmith’s sixth 3-pointer cut the lead to two points.
By then the crowd was silent all on its own. No one needed to shush anyone. No one had anything left to say.
Haliburton’s game-tying 2-pointer landed like an anvil in the pits of everyone’s stomach. Overtime was just a whole bunch of indigestion.
“In the playoffs, when you win, it’s the best thing ever,” Brunson said after the game. “When you lose, it’s the worst thing ever.”
There was one historical echo that could be a bright spot for Knicks fans, however. Haliburton even pointed it out after the game.
“I know that they didn’t win the series,” Haliburton recounted. The Knicks would come back to win that 1994 Eastern Conference finals in seven games. “So I would not like to repeat that.”
Source: espn.com