Knicks blow 17-point fourth-quarter lead, drop Game 1 of Eastern Conference Finals in OT to Pacers
For all of the talk of the history of the Knicks and Indiana Pacers postseason rivalry, it was hard to imagine that the two teams could conjure up another moment as they faced off Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
And then as if scripted, the newly-minted villain of Madison Square Garden, Tyrese Haliburton, scrambled around the floor as the final seconds of regulation ticked off the clock. A 17-point Knicks lead in the fourth quarter was down to two and Haliburton, as time expired, retreated to the three-point line. His shot bounced high off the back rim and fell cleanly through, setting off a wild Indiana celebration with Haliburton mimicking the Reggie Miller choke sign.
But the very tip of Haliburton’s sneaker was on the line, the shot ruled a two-point field goal and the teams would play on into overtime. So put the toe into the history books, alongside Miller’s eight points in nine seconds, John Starks’ head butt and Patrick Ewing’s finger roll. But unlike the time that Miller made the choke sign and the Knicks won that series, Haliburton and the Pacers in this game got the last laugh. They pulled out a 138-135 win.
“I’ve seen that ‘Winning Time’ doc probably like 50 times growing up,” Haliburton said, referencing Miller’s signaling the choke sign at the Knicks — and Spike Lee in particular — in 1994. “So I know that [Indiana] didn’t win the series. Would not like to repeat that.”
The Knicks had lived by the comeback in the first two rounds of the postseason, but on this night they were done in by a furious Indiana rally, turning a 17-point lead into a nightmare finish.
According to Elias Sports, no team had ever recovered when trailing by nine or more in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime of a playoff game. It is 0-1,414 since 1998.
“We didn’t finish the game out,” Josh Hart said. “We didn’t run through that finish line. I feel like defensively we let off the gas, intensity and physically weren’t there. Offensively we were playing slower, a little stagnant, and looked like we were playing not to lose.”
Jalen Brunson led all scorers with 43 points, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the collapse that left Brunson just staring from the bench as Indiana took the ball out to end the game. For Brunson, it was the 18th 30-point performance in the postseason, tying Patrick Ewing for the most in franchise history. Karl-Anthony Towns had 35 points and 12 rebounds.
But it was Haliburton with 31 points and 11 assists and Aaron Nesmith, with 20 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, who were celebrating finally at the end of overtime, although they had the premature celebration.
“It felt like it got stuck up there,” Haliburton said of the shot at the end of regulation. “Honestly, when it like went in, I thought my eyes might have been deceiving me in the moment. It felt good when it left my hand. So I thought it was going to go in. The ball felt like it was up there for an eternity. But man, just a special moment.”
“Players can do what they want,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said of Haliburton’s choke sign. “It’s an emotional thing. It’s not a big deal. It’s not a big deal. We got to go out there. The place is unlikely to be any louder than it was tonight. It was crazy out there. The environment, it never disappoints here.”
The Knicks scored the first four points of overtime, but Indiana came back again and took the lead at 130-129 on a layup by Andrew Nembhard. Brunson was fouled with 1:44 left and hit both to give the Knicks back the lead. Haliburton answered with a tough layup, but Brunson went to the line again and drained two for the lead. Haliburton misfired on an open three, but Obi Toppin slammed in a follow.
Brunson delivered again, this time driving through traffic and floating a layup over Toppin’s outstretched arms. But Nembhard converted a feed from Haliburton with 26.7 seconds left and the Knicks were down one again.
They inbounded and OG Anunoby’s pass for Brunson along the sideline was deflected by Nembhard and initially ruled Knicks ball with 20 seconds to play. But Indiana challenged and the call was overturned, ruled that it touched Brunson last. They attacked and Toppin dunked for a three-point lead with 15.3 left.
Brunson and Towns both misfired from three and the Knicks were left to wonder how this got away.
“We can’t really summarize it,” Brunson said. “Give them a lot of credit. They closed the game out like they’ve been doing all playoffs. Not really good on our part.
“In the playoffs when you win, it’s the best thing ever. When you lose it’s the worst thing ever. So the best way to deal with all that is just stay level-headed, make sure we have each other’s backs. Obviously not the way we want to finish the game.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
