NEW YORK — Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton put both of his hands around his neck, channeling Reggie Miller’s famous “choking” celebration at the end of a frantic fourth-quarter comeback against the New York Knicks.
Haliburton’s homage was a touch premature: Video replays showed that his foot was on the three-point line when he made his potential game-winning buzzer-beater, so Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals went to overtime with the score tied at 125.
In the extra period, the Knicks, who had led by 17 points with less than seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, proved unable to avert a spectacular collapse. When the dust settled, the Pacers had rallied from a 14-point deficit with less than three minutes to play in regulation to steal a 138-135 victory at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.
“Everybody wanted me to do [the choke sign] last year at some different point,” Haliburton said. “It’s got to feel right. It felt right at the time. If I had known [the shot] 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. … Quickly, in my celebration, somebody said it was a two. My focus became on how we could win the game. We did a great job of sticking with it in overtime, making big play after big play.”
Indiana closed the fourth quarter on a 19-6 run, draining its final seven three-pointers in regulation to dig out of a seemingly insurmountable hole. Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith keyed the rally by making six three-pointers in the final five minutes, including three in the final minute alone.
“I was just letting them fly,” Nesmith said. “I was in a good rhythm. I didn’t really realize what I was doing in the moment. It’s unreal. It’s probably the best feeling in the world for me. I love it. When that basket feels like an ocean and anything you toss up you feel like it’s going to go in, it’s just so much fun. The last three minutes were a blur.”
After Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby each missed a free throw in the final 15 seconds, Haliburton raced up the court, did a U-turn when he reached the paint, retreated to the top of the key and launched a step-back jumper that hit the rim, bounced high in the air and fell through to force overtime. The Pacers won the extra period 13-10, as Jalen Brunson and Towns both missed potential game-tying three-pointers on New York’s final possession. Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard put Indiana ahead for good with a layup with 35 seconds remaining in the extra period.
“[The Pacers] can score the ball,” Knicks Coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Nesmith got loose. Haliburton hit big shots. You can just never let your guard down against them. No lead is safe.”
While the Pacers are no strangers to incredible playoff comebacks, this one was special even by their standards. Remarkably, New York held a 99.7 percent win probability when it led 119-105 with 2:51 remaining in regulation.
Earlier this postseason, the Pacers used an 8-0 run in the final 34 seconds of overtime to erase a seven-point deficit and eliminate the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 5 of a first-round series. Milwaukee held a 97.9 percent win probability before Indiana’s comeback. Then, in Game 2 of a second-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana pulled off another 8-0 closing run to steal a road win. Cleveland held a 95.9 percent win probability in the final minute.
“We’ve had a lot of these games this year,” Pacers Coach Rick Carlisle said. “It’s a muscle. The more you exercise it, the stronger it gets. It’s not easy. There’s been a lot of swings in scores throughout the season and the playoffs. You certainly don’t take anything like this for granted. We always say: Pacers basketball is 48 minutes. Tonight, it was 53 minutes.”
Before their catastrophic endgame, the Knicks appeared headed to a breezy triumph in the series opener of their first Eastern Conference finals appearance since 2000. Brunson led the Knicks with a game-high 43 points, while Towns added 35 points and 12 rebounds in the loss.
Haliburton finished with a team-high 31 points and 11 assists. Nesmith added 30 points and drilled a career-high eight three-pointers to stun the New York crowd.
The Knicks, who lost to the Pacers in seven games in the conference semifinals last year, host Game 2 on Friday.
“There’s a lot of emotional highs and lows in the playoffs,” Thibodeau said. “You’ve got to bounce back quickly.”
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