NEW YORK — Tyrese Haliburton was waiting for the right time to bring back Reggie Miller’s choke signal from the Indiana Pacers’ postseason past.
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A big shot at Madison Square Garden with Miller in the building seemed perfect — even though his celebration turned out to be premature.
Haliburton ran toward the crowd along the sideline with his hands around his neck after hitting a long jumper as time expired in regulation Wednesday night. He hoped it was a 3-pointer to beat the New York Knicks, but video replay showed his toe was on the line and it was a 2 that tied the score.
The Pacers went on to win 138-135 in overtime in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals after trailing by 14 points with less than 3 minutes to play in regulation.
“Everybody wanted me to do it last year at some different point, but it’s got to feel right and it felt right at the time,” Haliburton said. “If I would have known it was a 2, I would not have done it. So I might have wasted it.”
Miller flashed the choke signal to Knicks superfan Spike Lee while leading a rally in Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference finals. The Hall of Fame guard scored 25 points in the fourth quarter to put the Pacers up 3-2 in the series, though New York rallied to win the next two games.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle wasn’t worried about Haliburton inciting the crowd the way Miller loved to during the fierce rivalry of the 1990s.
“Listen, players can do what they want and it’s an emotional thing,” Carlisle said. “It’s not a big deal. The place is unlikely to be any louder than it was tonight.”
After Haliburton scored 26 points to lead the Pacers past the Knicks last year in Game 7 of the East semifinals at MSG, he wore a sweatshirt featuring Miller’s choke pose to his postgame news conference.
Miller was on the crew calling the game for TNT on Wednesday. Haliburton said they communicate often, and though they weren’t able to speak immediately after the game, they did make eye contact.
“Definitely a special time and, yeah, really cool he was in the building for that,” Haliburton said.
Haliburton had 31 points and 11 assists, and Aaron Nesmith finished with 30 points, going 8 of 9 from 3-point range in the Pacers’ latest comeback in this postseason.
They beat the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round after trailing by seven points with 40 seconds left in overtime, then stole one from the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers when they were behind by seven with 46 seconds remaining in regulation.
Another round, another comeback.
“It’s always special. It’s always fun,” Nesmith said. “This is what we live for.”
It was a thrilling start to the ninth playoff matchup between these teams — but a deflating finish for the Knicks in their first Eastern Conference finals game since 2000.
Jalen Brunson scored 43 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 35 points and 12 rebounds. But the Knicks couldn’t protect the big lead they built while Brunson was on the bench in foul trouble in the fourth quarter and had a collapse unlike any other in the postseason.
Teams leading by at least 14 points in the final 2:45 of the fourth quarter had been 994-0 since detailed play-by-play began being kept in 1997-98.
“Give them a lot of credit. They closed the game out like they’ve been doing all playoffs,” Brunson said. “Just not really good on our part.”
Here’s the anatomy of the comeback:
- 3:14 left — Pacers’ Aaron Nesmith makes a 3-pointer. Knicks 116-105.
- 2:51 — Knicks’ Jalen Brunson makes a 3-pointer. Knicks 119-105.
- 2:39 — Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton makes a 3-pointer. Knicks 119-108.
- 2:04 — Nesmith 3-pointer. Knicks 119-111.
- 1:20 — Pacers’ Pascal Siakam makes a free throw. Knicks 119-112.
- :58.8 — Brunson layup. Knicks 121-112.
- :51.0 — Nesmith 3-pointer. Knicks 121-115.
- :41.7 — Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns makes a 6-footer. Knicks 123-115.
- :34.0 — Nesmith 3-pointer. Knicks 123-118.
- :22.6 — Nesmith 3-pointer. Knicks 123-121.
- :14.3 — Towns free throw. Knicks 124-121.
- :12.4 — Nesmith makes two free throws. Knicks 124-123.
- :7.3 — OG Anunoby makes a free throw. Knicks 125-123.
- 0.0 — Haliburton jumper. Tied 125-125.
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