Category: NBA

The Knicks appeared to be cruising their way to a Game 1 victory on Wednesday night.

In front of a rocking MSG crowd, they led the Pacers by as many as 17 points with just under four minutes remaining in regulation.

Clutch bucket after clutch bucket down the stretch cut into the deficit and kept Indiana within striking distance, before Tyrese Haliburton delivered the game-tying jumper as time expired.

The Pacers would go on to silence the MSG crowd, stealing the victory in overtime, capping it off with Obi Toppin's slam and a defensive stand in the closing seconds.

As expected, the NYC back pages had a field day with this one...

The back page: CHOKE 2.0

Epic collapse crushes Knicks in frighteningly fashion

Read more: https://t.co/FkMmrLlgQHpic.twitter.com/Y2O6hHKBcS

— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) May 22, 2025

I’m gonna go get the papers, get the papers: back page edition. Battle of the @nyknicks#tabloidhedspic.twitter.com/mxV1yMrekY

— Robert Shields (@rshields37) May 22, 2025

Ex-Celtic Aaron Nesmith made wild NBA history in Pacers' comeback win originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

If you turned off Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals with about three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter Wednesday night, you missed an ending for the ages — with a former Boston Celtics draft pick playing a crucial role.

The New York Knicks led the Indiana Pacers by 14 points (119-105) with 2:45 on the clock. Then Pacers guard Aaron Nesmith went absolutely nuclear, hitting five 3-pointers in a span of under three minutes to help Indy storm back.

Tyrese Haliburton delivered the final dagger with a 2-pointer at the end of regulation to force overtime, and the Pacers outlasted the Knicks in overtime to complete a stunning 138-135 victory. But it was Nesmith’s heroics that helped Indy become the first team in NBA playoff history to overcome a 14-point deficit in the final 2:45 of a fourth quarter.

To put Nesmith’s late-game eruption into context, the fifth-year guard hit six 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, which is the most by any player in a single quarter of a playoff game since 1998. And Nesmith hit all of his triples within the final five minutes.

Aaron Nesmith's 6 threes in the fourth quarter…

was the MOST EVER by ANY player in the playoffs since the 1998 Playoffs (PxP era) 😱

Nesmith set a FRANCHISE RECORD IN MADE THREES (8) for the @Pacers in a playoff game ‼️#NBAPlayoffs presented by Google https://t.co/plbFRBSjGfpic.twitter.com/Q8Yb9trAsF

— NBA (@NBA) May 22, 2025

Nesmith has had quite the basketball journey; he was one of the best shooters in college basketball entering the 2020 NBA Draft (52.2 percent from 3-point range at Vanderbilt in 2019-20), and was expected to continue that success with the Celtics, who selected him 14th overall.

But Nesmith just couldn’t make a bucket in Boston, averaging just 4.2 points per game over two seasons (98 total games) while shooting 31.8 percent from distance. After the 2021-22 season, the Celtics dealt Nesmith — along with Daniel Theis, Malik Fitts, Juwan Morgan, Nik Stauskas and a 2023 first-round pick — to Indiana in return for Malcolm Brogdon.

In the short term, the deal was a win for the C’s, as Brogdon earned Sixth Man of the Year honors while helping Boston reach the Eastern Conference Finals. But Nesmith since has blossomed in Indy, rediscovering his shooting stroke (43.1 percent from 3 this season) and playing with relentless energy for a perennial East contender.

Nesmith’s contributions culminated in Wednesday’s 30-point effort on 9 of 13 shooting (8 of 9 from 3) that has the Pacers three wins from an NBA Finals berth.

“It’s unreal,” Nesmith said after the game. “It’s probably the best feeling in the world for me, personally. I love it when that basket feels like an ocean and anything you toss up, you feel like it’s going to go in. Ahh, it’s just, so much fun.”

The Celtics got their own star from that 2020 draft — Boston selected Payton Pritchard 12 picks later at No. 26 overall — but it has to sting a bit watching Nesmith thrive in another uniform.

Why Kerr believes Draymond is ‘heartbeat' of Warriors' dynasty originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Steve Kerr believes Draymond Green has been just as impactful as Steph Curry in the Warriors’ sustained run of success over the last decade.

The Golden State coach explained that he has recently been reading Sam Walker’s “The Captain Class,” and that much of what the book discusses applies to the Warriors.

“The point of the book is that it’s not always the leading scorer, it’s not always the most talented player but it’s the guys who are — literally or figuratively — the captains of the team and why they have such an impact on winning,” Kerr told Tim Kawakami on “The TK Show.”

“I think Draymond really applies in a lot of ways. I’ve always felt that Draymond is, as I’ve said, the heartbeat of the team. Steph’s obviously our best player, but Draymond has driven a lot of the winning. Now he doesn’t fit every category in the book.

“Obviously, he’s had his own ups and downs in terms of his own leadership. I think the common thread between all these championship teams is just competitive force and fire. That’s what Draymond has.”

Green’s passion for the game and stifling defense have been some of the main ingredients to Golden State’s four NBA championships over the past 10 years. Earlier this year, the 36-year-old’s impassioned speech during a team meeting set the tone for the Warriors’ Game 7 win over the Houston Rockets in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

Still, it has not been smooth sailing during Green’s tenure with Golden State. At times, his competitive nature and passion get the best of him. Between numerous flagrant and technical fouls and plenty of suspensions for his aggressive play, Green has been a lightning rod for controversy.

Kerr wouldn’t have it any other way, though. He wants to ride out this era in Golden State with Green and Curry at his side. With a full offseason to integrate Jimmy Butler into the mix, Kerr and the Warriors are feeling good about their chances to capture a fifth NBA Finals trophy next season.

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Warriors star Draymond named to 2024-25 NBA All-Defensive First Team originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Even though the Warriors fell short of their NBA championship aspirations this season, Draymond Green reached one of his biggest goals.

Green was among the five players selected to the 2024-25 Kia NBA All-Defensive First Team, alongside Dyson Daniels, Luguentz Dort, Amen Thompson and 2024-25 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley.

Earned it.

Draymond Green 🤝 All-Defensive pic.twitter.com/rhzdracRP0

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 22, 2025

It is the ninth All-Defensive Team nod of Green’s 13-year NBA career, and the fifth time he was named to the First Team. He made the All-Defensive Second team four times in 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023.

Warriors superstar Steph Curry congratulated his longtime teammate on Instagram.

Steph congratulates Draymond for making the All-Defensive First Team 🙌

[via @StephenCurry30 / IG] pic.twitter.com/ZuYAdO5Jl6

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) May 22, 2025

Green was a finalist for NBA Defensive Player of the Year, finishing third in voting for the award. His last DPOY nod was for the 2016-17 season.

The 35-year-old also won the 2024-25 NBA Hustle Award, which “honors players who make the effort plays that don’t often appear in the traditional box score but impact winning on a nightly basis.”

He also made history as the first award winner to finish inside the top 40 in all nine hustle categories, per the NBA. Hustle stats, which the league has been tracking since the 2016 postseason, include charges drawn, deflections, screen assists, contested 2-point shots, contested 3-point shots, offensive loose balls recovered, defensive loose balls recovered, offensive box outs and defensive box outs.

Green, on a per-minute basis, ranked second in contested 3-point shots, sixth in charges drawn, 10th in defensive box outs, 13th in contested 2-point shots and 15th in deflections. The eight-time All-Defensive Team member also was one of just two players with 40-plus appearances to average at least 1.45 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr recently labeled Green as the “heartbeat” of the Warriors, and his most recent nod perfectly embodies just that.

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What Spoelstra told Kerr about Butler immediately after Warriors trade originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Despite some concern about how Jimmy Butler would fit into the Warriors’ culture, coach Steve Kerr’s mind was at ease.

That’s because his good friend and longtime Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra reassured him before Golden State acquired the six-time NBA All-Star at the February trade deadline.

“Erik Spoelstra told me immediately, ‘He’s going to be great for you.’ And I know Spo really well from the last couple of summers and I trust him,” Kerr told Tim Kawakami on “The TK Show.” “I believed him and he was right. Within a couple of days of his arrival, Jimmy was so easy to speak with.

“He reminded me of Andre [Iguodala] with the basketball intellect, but also the interest in the world perspective and the maturity. It was really fun to get to know Jimmy right away and to see the impact he had on our team and our locker room.”

There was plenty of chatter about Butler’s locker room fit in Golden State since the veteran forward’s relationship with his previous team, the Heat, and particularly team president Pat Riley, soured.

Things got so bad that Butler was suspended multiple times by Miami after missing a team flight, walking out of a shootaround, and other actions deemed as “detrimental” to the team. And given that it wasn’t the first time Butler left a team on bad terms, there were reasonable worries for the Warriors.

But those concerns immediately were put to rest upon Butler’s arrival, as his impact quite literally did the opposite as he provided a rejuvenated energy to Golden State both on and off the floor. His relationship with Buddy Hield in particular warmed the hearts of Dub Nation.

“He was an absolute dream,” Kerr said. “I know everything that happened in Miami would not have suggested that, but I can only base Jimmy’s impact and his personality and all that stuff on my experience. And he was the model citizen. Just an amazing guy to coach these last few months.”

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Warriors coach Kerr offers two intriguing player comps for Kuminga originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

There was one NBA player that Jonathan Kuminga frequently was compared to early on in his career, but even at the time it was rather unrealistic.

The young, 6-foot-7 forward, selected with the No. 7 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, received early comparisons to Kawhi Leonard, a six-time All-Star and two-time Defensive Player of the Year who is bound for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame when his career eventually ends.

While it might have been an apt comparison for the unproven Kuminga’s potential ceiling throughout his first couple seasons in the league, the 22-year-old, fresh off his fourth roller-coaster campaign with Golden State, no longer is receiving Leonard comparisons, but was compared by Warriors coach Steve Kerr to one current and one former NBA star.

“I’ve always felt like the type of player JK needs to be, I’ve mentioned this in the past, Shawn Marion is a guy that jumps out,” Kerr told The San Francisco Standard’s Tim Kawakami on the latest episode of the “The TK Show.” “I talked about this JK’s rookie year. With his athleticism, running the floor, putting pressure on the rim, offensive rebounds, getting into the dunker, the drop-off pass from divers, going up and dunking, guarding everybody at the other end. I think that’s, to me, what he’s really built for.

“We’ve really pushed him in that direction. I think sometimes with young players, there’s a process. I think Aaron Gordon is a good example. He spent years in Orlando, where he really wanted to be the scorer and the lead guy and had some success, like JK has, but really maybe didn’t find his role and find himself until later. And that’s kind of the hope.”

The 6-foot-7 Marion, a 16-year NBA veteran, was a four-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA selection who averaged 15.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocks per game on 48.4-percent shooting from the field and 33.1 percent from 3-point range.

Gordon (6-foot-8), who is one of the more impactful players in today’s game and played a big role in the Denver Nuggets’ 2023 championship, is another player that Kuminga frequently has been compared to throughout his career.

While Kuminga still has the raw talent to ascend to the level of either of those two star players, Kerr believes it will be tricky for him to do so in Golden State’s system with the way he currently plays the game.

“I think right now, he is a ball-dominant player 92nd percentile in usage rate this year in the NBA,” Kerr told Kawakami. “That’s really high. So on a team with Steph [Curry] and Jimmy [Butler], honestly, Steph’s going to have the ball. Jimmy’s going to have the ball. So the fit is tricky, there’s no question. What JK and I have talked about a lot and what we’ve really tried to hammer home with him is sprint the floor and rebound and be complimentary to those guys and that’s how you can find your role and find more minutes.”

That’s not to say Kuminga, a restricted free agent this offseason, can’t reach his full potential with the Warriors, but it could take some time. And it has.

“Hopefully that will click and we’ll find that place where he can start to do those things and rebound and get loose balls and be a high-energy possession guy like Shawn Marion, like Aaron Gordon,” Kerr concluded. “I think those guys are great comps. But young guys take some time to find their place, to figure out the best versions of themselves, and I think that process is still happening.”

But do the Warriors have time to wait?

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Pacers overcome improbable 0-994 record in stunning Game 1 win over Knicks originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Indiana Pacers never quit.

That was evident on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, when they defeated the New York Knicks in overtime to take Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Jalen Brunson and the Knicks were relentless for the first 45 minutes of the game, building a 14-point lead (119-105) on their All-Star guard’s 3-pointer with 2:51 to play. Then, the impossible happened.

Tyrese Haliburton for 3. Aaron Nesmith for 3. A Pascal Siakam free throw. Three more triples for Nesmith. And an insane step-back bucket for Haliburton to force overtime.

In the extra period, Indy outscored New York 13-10 to walk away with a shocking Game 1 road win.

Just how improbable was that late 14-point comeback? According to Josh Dubow of The Associated Press, teams leading a playoff game by 14 or more points in the final 2:45 of the fourth quarter were 994-0 during the play-by-play era (since 1997).

Make that 994-1.

watch tonight's fantastic finish from Game 1 at Madison Square Garden as we rallied from 14 down with 2:40 remaining 👀 pic.twitter.com/wNwqEQe8nW

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 22, 2025

It doesn’t stop there, though.

The Pacers pointed out that since 1997, teams trailing by seven or more in the final 50 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime in the playoffs are now 4-1,702. This year’s Pacers squad has three of those four wins, including Wednesday night.

Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press added that the Pacers’ 23 points in the final 3:14 of regulation is the most ever in a playoff game during the play-by-play era.

Indiana, now 9-2 in the postseason, hadn’t won a game in the East finals since 2004 after being swept by the eventual champion Boston Celtics last season.

The Pacers will look to keep the magic going on Friday night for Game 2, with the Knicks again hosting at Madison Square Garden before the series shifts to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for Game 3.

Pacers overcome improbable 0-994 record in stunning Game 1 win over Knicks originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Indiana Pacers never quit.

That was evident on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, when they defeated the New York Knicks in overtime to take Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Jalen Brunson and the Knicks were relentless for the first 45 minutes of the game, building a 14-point lead (119-105) on their All-Star guard’s 3-pointer with 2:51 to play. Then, the impossible happened.

Tyrese Haliburton for 3. Aaron Nesmith for 3. A Pascal Siakam free throw. Three more triples for Nesmith. And an insane step-back bucket for Haliburton to force overtime.

In the extra period, Indy outscored New York 13-10 to walk away with a shocking Game 1 road win.

Just how improbable was that late 14-point comeback? According to Josh Dubow of The Associated Press, teams leading a playoff game by 14 or more points in the final 2:45 of the fourth quarter were 994-0 during the play-by-play era (since 1997).

Make that 994-1.

watch tonight's fantastic finish from Game 1 at Madison Square Garden as we rallied from 14 down with 2:40 remaining 👀 pic.twitter.com/wNwqEQe8nW

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 22, 2025

It doesn’t stop there, though.

The Pacers pointed out that since 1997, teams trailing by seven or more in the final 50 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime in the playoffs are now 4-1,702. This year’s Pacers squad has three of those four wins, including Wednesday night.

Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press added that the Pacers’ 23 points in the final 3:14 of regulation is the most ever in a playoff game during the play-by-play era.

Indiana, now 9-2 in the postseason, hadn’t won a game in the East finals since 2004 after being swept by the eventual champion Boston Celtics last season.

The Pacers will look to keep the magic going on Friday night for Game 2, with the Knicks again hosting at Madison Square Garden before the series shifts to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for Game 3.

Warriors finally ready to answer Dub Nation's longtime plea originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Ever since Andrew Bogut and Zaza Pachulia were tucked into their retirement beds, the annual pleas of Dub Nation and numerous NBA analysts for the Warriors to get bigger and brawnier have been heard but gone unheeded.

More size? Why? People said we were small in 2022, and we won a championship.

Now that the Warriors have been bullied from the 2025 postseason, one year after missing the NBA playoffs entirely, there is internal concession to what had been disregarded. The front office, gazing into the offseason, has given itself the reality check needed to compete at the highest levels of the league.

“That’s always, I know, around here the buzz word is ‘size.’” general manager Mike Dunleavy said. “I’d love to have an ability to play bigger with Draymond [Green] and Jimmy [Butler III] in the frontcourt, and we can always go to our ace in the hole with Draymond at center, which we did basically from February 8 on.”

Green as a 6-foot-6 center and Butler as a 6-foot-7 forward, with Moses Moody as a 6-foot-5 forward, worked well enough as Golden State’s frontcourt to make an impressive late-season push winning 24 of its last 32 games.

As the stakes were raised, that group’s shortcomings, pun intended, were exposed. In the season finale, with a guaranteed playoff berth at stake, the Warriors were outrebounded 42-25 while getting roasted by the Los Angeles Clippers. Ivica Zubac, LA’s 7-foot center, grabbed 17 rebounds – three more than Golden State’s entire starting lineup.

The Warriors outrebounded opponents only three times in 13 postseason games (NBA play-in tournament included). Moreover, their defense invited penetration into the paint. The point-of-attack defense was poor, but there also was precious little deterrence at the rim.

Of the 49 field goals made by the Timberwolves in clinching Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals in Minnesota, 31 were dunks or layups. Their 13 3-pointers mattered, but feasting at the rim drove 62.8-percent shooting from the field that ended Golden State’s season.

“They shot 63 percent,” coach Steve Kerr said after Game 5, punctuating his comment with a revealing admission, “and we couldn’t stop them.”

The Wolves were too big, too aggressive and too athletic. Even as the Warriors beat Houston in seven games in the first round, their weaknesses gave the Rockets openings they couldn’t properly exploit.

The Warriors squeezed about all they could from Kevon Looney, 6-foot-9 and 240 pounds of infinite fortitude. He’s 29, but every step is a chore for his remodeled body.

So deficient was Golden State’s interior presence that Kerr installed 6-foot-9, 250-pound Trayce Jackson-Davis, previously out of the rotation, into the starting lineup against Minnesota. The move made sense, results were negligible.

The Warriors saw enough in the playoffs to know 7-foot rookie Quinten Post was overwhelmed by the brighter lights and elevated competition. He should improve, but his greatest asset, 3-point shooting, takes him away from the paint on offense.

“I thought Quinten had a great rookie season,” Kerr said. “He showed the impact he can make, and I think he’ll make a lot of improvement. He gives us positional size and shooting. Those are the kinds of things we need.”

Post and Jackson-Davis, both second-round picks in the last two drafts, are examples of the Warriors recognizing if not prioritizing their relative lack of size. They prioritized size in the 2020 draft, selecting James Wiseman, an athletic 7-footer who was traded 27 months later and has been dogged by injuries.

The Warriors now have sufficient data to show they’re no longer built to withstand size deficits – and that they have neither the athleticism nor shooting to offset it.

“You can get bigger, more athletic, more skilled in terms of shooting, passing, defending,” Dunleavy said. “We can improve in a lot of areas while at the same time knowing we’re shored up and good in some areas. We’ll look to do those things. For sure you can do that.

“We’ll look at trades. We’ll look at free agency.”

The NBA free-agent market is shallow in big men who might be affordable and fit Golden State’s win-now timeline, with Steven Adams, Clint Capela and Brook Lopez topping the list. Lopez, 37, is a solid defender whose shooting can space the floor. Neither Adams nor Capela, both 31, generate much offense.

Getting back into the championship picture means taking note of the four teams in the conference finals. All have a presence in the paint. The New York Knicks: Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson. The Indiana Pacers: Myles Turner, the league’s best floor spacer/rim protector. The Oklahoma City Thunder: Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren. The Timberwolves: Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle – and the luxury of a 6-foot-9 two-way wing in Jaden McDaniels.

Golden State’s current roster did not have solutions for these problems. What matters most is that it is acknowledged more explicitly than in the past.

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The Indiana Pacers overturned a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter before beating the New York Knicks in overtime to win the opening game of their NBA Eastern Conference finals series 138-135.

Jalen Brunson ended the night with 41 points for the Knicks and helped them to lead 69-62 at half-time.

The hosts continued to pull away and were 14 points clear with two minutes and 51 seconds left to play.

However, Indiana scored six straight three-pointers - five by Aaron Nesmith - before Tyrese Haliburton forced overtime with a two-point shot on the buzzer.

Momentum remained with the Pacers in overtime as they recorded a famous victory at Madison Square Garden.

"I'm so proud of the resilience of this group, we've shown it all year. We've had to win in so many different, random, unique ways and we just kept going, kept fighting, and man, that's fun," Haliburton told TNT.

"We played a lot of games where it felt like the other team had control.

"It ain't over until it's over, until it hits zero. That's a hell of a win. But I really do think there's a lot for us to improve on."

Haliburton thought he had won the game in regulation time when attempting a three-pointer - even mimicking Hall of Famer Reggie Miller's infamous 'choke' celebration - but replays showed his toe was on the line and it only counted for two.

It is the fourth time the Pacers have won from being 15 points or more behind during the post-season.

"There's obviously a disappointment when you fall short," said Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau.

"We got to be ready for game two, and that's all you look at. So, the disappointment, we've got to turn that into more determination."

The second game of the best-of-seven series takes place in New York at 01:00 BST on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander - who led Oklahoma City Thunder to victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in game one of the Western Conference finals - has been named as the NBA's Most Valuable Player for 2024-25.

Jalen Brunson was mostly brilliant for the first 47 minutes of Game 1.

He had 37 points on 15-for-22 shooting. His layup with 59 seconds to play gave New York a nine-point lead over the Indiana Pacers.

And then things deteriorated – quickly. There were plenty of defensive mistakes in the final six minutes on Wednesday night. There were missed free throws. Missed opportunities to rebound the ball.

But maybe more than anything else, the strangest part of the Knicks' collapse was Bunson’s role in it.

He had three turnovers in the final 5:30 of the game.

Brunson also made his free throws late and came up with a big basket in overtime. And he didn’t let Obi Toppin free for a put-back dunk in overtime; he didn’t fail to foul Toppin on one of Indiana’s final possessions.

He didn’t lose Andrew Nembhard as a cutter on a key play late in overtime.

But Brunson didn’t close the game cleanly. He’s been so good late in games that you expect him to be perfect in these situations. He was far from perfect on Wednesday.

Now, the Knicks will face the biggest test of their resolve to date on Friday night. They face a Pacers team that is brimming with confidence heading into Game 2. The Knicks have done well in challenging spots throughout these playoffs. But they haven’t faced a challenge like this yet.

Late Wednesday night, there was an understated confidence from the Knicks as they talked about the awful Game 1 loss and what lies ahead.

“The series just started. Just one game, just watch the film, learn from it and go from there,” OG Anunoby said.

“I feel like defensively we let off the gas, intensity and physically weren’t there,” Josh Hart said. “Offensively we were playing slower, a little stagnant. And looked like we were playing not to lose. We got to make sure we don’t make that mistake again.”

They’ll have another chance on Friday night at the Garden. All of a sudden, Game 2 is a must-win for the Knicks. If they make the same mistakes then that we saw in the important moments of Game 1, this Knicks season will end in disappointment.

The Knicks survived Jalen Brunson, the NBA’s best crunchtime player, being sent to the bench with foul trouble at the start of the fourth quarter to build a 17-point lead in the first four minutes without him.

It was the largest lead they held over the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. New York took a few shots back from the visitors, but the advantage was back to 14 points with under three minutes to play.

The win probability for the Knicks at that point: 99.7 percent.

In the final 160 seconds of regulation, the game was tied. After the five minutes of overtime, which began with the Knicks taking a four-point lead, the Pacers' comeback was complete in the form of a 138-135 gut-punch for the home fans.

“We didn’t close the game out,” Josh Hart said. “I feel like our intensity dropped, we started playing slower, playing more into their hands. We let that one slip.”

“They can score the ball,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “You just can never let your guard down against them. No lead is safe.”

From there, the Knicks went 2-for-4 from the floor and 2-for-4 from the free-throw line while committing one turnover. The Pacers got hot: Aaron Nesmith made four consecutive threes and two free throws, Pascal Siakam went 1-for-2 at the line, all to put them in positon for Tyrese Haliburton, thanks to a very kind back iron, made the longest possible two-point shot with a toe on the line to send the game to overtime capping a 20-6 run.

After making the shot, Haliburton, emulating Reggie Miller, covered his throat. It would be in overtime when the Pacers finally went at the Knicks' throat, converting on 6-for-11 from the floor, and capping the comeback.

“The playoffs, when you win, it’s the best thing ever. When you lose, it’s the worst thing ever,” said Brunson, who finished with a game-high 43 points but was a minus-8 in 38 minutes.

Asked how he felt after scoring 20 points with five made threes in the fourth quarter, Nesmith said, “It’s unreal, it’s probably the best feeling in the world to me. I love it when that basket feels like an ocean, and anything you toss up, you feel like it's gonna go in. It's just so much fun.”

How was the Pacers guard able to get hot from behind the arc late in crunch time? “Got too much airspace,” the head coach said. “And some of it is transition, some of it is coming off pindowns, some of it is communication. Want to take a look at the film.”

Hart pointed the finger at a “lack of communication” in defending a guy who entered the night shooting 48.2 percent from three in 10 playoff games (up from his season average of 43.1 percent).

“Defensively, we let off the gas, the intensity and physicality wasn’t there,” Hart said, adding that on offense it “looked like we were playing not to lose.”

"We didn't do what we needed to do," Karl-Anthony Towns, who had 35 points and 12 rebounds and was the lone Knicks starter to have a positive plus-minus (nine) in 39 minutes, said.

Turnovers bite the hosts all night, including in overtime when the Knicks committed four of them. For the game, the total was 15, with Indiana profiting from them to the tune of 27 points. 

“The turnovers were costly and they converted them into easy buckets,” Thibodeau said. “They started off the game in a good rhythm and then we did a much better as the half went on. And then, down the stretch, we didn’t do what we needed to do.”

This story was almost a different one.

Thibodeau was asked about deciding to start the fourth quarter with Brunson in the game despite his four fouls, and he didn’t elaborate beyond saying it was a “coach’s decision.” 

And, who could blame the Knicks’ top man on the bench for sticking with his closer at the start of crunchtime with his team up by just three in a game the Knicks led for long stretches but never truly pulled away? 

While Brunson scored the quarter’s first four points for New York, he lasted just 1:55 before he was relegated to the bench with the lead down to two. 

The Knicks picked up their leader by going on a 14-0 run over the next 2:43 of game time – OG Anunoby had a quick five, Miles McBride added two from the line, Towns put in five straight, before Anunoby's layup forced a second Indiana timeout. New York won the Brunson-less five minutes of play by 11 points, and soon after he entered, it was his step-back three that gave them the 14-point lead with 2:51 to play.

“They made shots, we didn’t,”Anunoby said. “We made some mistakes, missed some free throws.”

Towns added: "We played 46 good minutes. Those two minutes is where we lost the game. And that's on all of us."

Pacers overcome improbable 0-994 record in stunning Game 1 win over Knicks originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Indiana Pacers never quit.

That was evident on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, when they defeated the New York Knicks in overtime to take Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Jalen Brunson and the Knicks were relentless for the first 45 minutes of the game, building a 14-point lead (119-105) on their All-Star guard’s 3-pointer with 2:51 to play. Then, the impossible happened.

Tyrese Haliburton for 3. Aaron Nesmith for 3. A Pascal Siakam free throw. Three more triples for Nesmith. And an insane step-back bucket for Haliburton to force overtime.

In the extra period, Indy outscored New York 13-10 to walk away with a shocking Game 1 road win.

Just how improbable was that late 14-point comeback? According to Josh Dubow of The Associated Press, teams leading a playoff game by 14 or more points in the final 2:45 of the fourth quarter were 994-0 during the play-by-play era (since 1997).

Make that 994-1.

watch tonight's fantastic finish from Game 1 at Madison Square Garden as we rallied from 14 down with 2:40 remaining 👀 pic.twitter.com/wNwqEQe8nW

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 22, 2025

It doesn’t stop there, though.

The Pacers pointed out that since 1997, teams trailing by seven or more in the final 50 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime in the playoffs are now 4-1,702. This year’s Pacers squad has three of those four wins, including Wednesday night.

Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press added that the Pacers’ 23 points in the final 3:14 of regulation is the most ever in a playoff game during the play-by-play era.

Indiana, now 9-2 in the postseason, hadn’t won a game in the East finals since 2004 after being swept by the eventual champion Boston Celtics last season.

The Pacers will look to keep the magic going on Friday night for Game 2, with the Knicks again hosting at Madison Square Garden before the series shifts to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for Game 3.

When the Knicks and Pacers were set to meet in this year's Eastern Conference Finals, memories of the playoff battles between the two teams in the 1990s were harkened back to, and Tyrese Haliburton evoked that history in Wednesday night's thrilling Game 1 win for Indiana.

In the waning seconds of regulation, and the Pacers down two points, Haliburton controlled the ball and drove to the hoop, but Mitchell Robinson came to stop him. Haliburton retreated toward the three-point line and took a fadeaway-like jumper. The ball hit the back of the rim but bounced straight up in the air as the buzzer sounded before going through the bottom of the net

"I knew it's going in. But it felt like it got stuck up there, though," Haliburton said of the shot after the game. "When it went in, my eyes might have been deceiving me in the moment, but it felt good when it left my hands. I thought it was going to go in. The ball just felt like it was up there for eternity. But man, special moment."

When the shot went in, Haliburton was mobbed by his teammates as the Indiana star did the choke gesture made famous by Pacers legend Reggie Miller toward the Garden crowd.

Haliburton thought he had hit a three at the buzzer to steal Game 1, but his toe was on the line. The shot didn't win the game, but it sent it to overtime and gave Indiana a chance.

Haliburton was asked about the choke gesture after the game.

"In the moment, I wasn’t plotting on it or anything. Everybody wanted me to do it last year at some point, but it had to feel right. It felt right at the time," he said. "If I would've 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."

Knicks fans know the infamous Reggie Miller "choke" game, where the sharpshooter scored 25 points in the fourth quarter in Game 4 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals. With the series tied 2-2, Miller capped his performance by hitting five three-pointers to rally past the Knicks.

After the Knicks blew their 17-point, fourth-quarter lead, the Pacers had the momentum going into the extra quarter. They would capitalize on New York's mistakes and pull out the 138-135 OT win to take a 1-0 series lead.

Haliburton finished with a team-high 31 points and his heroics helped the Pacers steal home-court advantage heading into Game 2 on Friday night.

It's just one game, but Haliburton understands the importance of the win while also putting it into perspective. When he was asked about the historical significance of the choke gesture in this Knicks-Pacers rivalry, Haliburton made it clear he knows this series isn't over. New York won Games 6 and 7 after Miller's choke and Haliburton wants to avoid that same fate.

"I've seen that 'Winning Time' doc probably like 50 times growing up, so I know that [the Pacers] didn't win the series. I would not like to repeat that," Haliburton said. "It’s just a historic moment and that was more him versus Spike [Lee], kind of the one-on-one. That felt like it was toward everybody... I think it’s really cool for me to make my own history and for this group to make their own history while also showing respect and love to the ones that came before us. Definitely a special moment and one I won’t forget."