Category: Basketball

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."

The ghosts of Reggie Miller were alive and well at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night – and Tyrese Haliburton once again played the role of Garden villain to perfection.

Haliburton tied the game with a wild jumper at the buzzer in regulation, then helped Indiana complete an unprecedented 14-point comeback in the final reel to beat the New York Knicks 138-135 in overtime in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The Pacers now hold a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven-games series for a trip to the NBA finals after pulling off one of the most improbable finishes in playoff history.

WHAT A SHOT BY TYRESE HALIBURTON 🤯🤯🤯 https://t.co/8wEwdkeRwZpic.twitter.com/s497GwRWi9

— NBA (@NBA) May 22, 2025

New York led 119-105 with under three minutes remaining in regulation, seemingly in complete command. According to ESPN Research, their win probability was 99.7%. Jalen Brunson had returned from foul trouble and was attacking the goal with the bite, balance and GPS in the paint of a peak Allen Iverson. Karl-Anthony Towns was stretching the floor and punishing mismatches. A sold-out Garden crowd of 19,812 was in full throat and ready to spill outside into the rain-soaked celebrations that were already sweeping down Seventh Avenue. Instead, it was brought to a church-like hush as the Knicks unraveled completely, outscored 31-14 in the final 2:51 of regulation and overtime.

Aaron Nesmith sparked the Pacers’ comeback with a barrage of three-pointers, burying five in the final three and a half minutes of the fourth quarter. He finished with 30 points on 8-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc, including back-to-back makes and a pair of free throws after the Knicks fouled him intentionally so he couldn’t tie the game with another.

“It’s unreal,” said Nesmith, a fifth-year swingman who averaged 12.0 points per game in the regular season. “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 so much fun.”

Even with Nesmith’s late heroics, Indiana still trailed by two in the final seconds. Haliburton recovered from a loose dribble, stepped back near the three-point line and launched a high-arcing jumper just before the horn. It bounced high off the back rim, hung in the air for what felt like an eternity before dropping through the cylinder. He sprinted to the sideline and flashed a choke gesture – a direct nod to Miller’s infamous 1994 taunt aimed at Spike Lee.

Video replay confirmed Haliburton’s toe was on the line. The basket counted for two, tying the game at 125 and forcing the five-minute extra frame.

Indiana’s Andrew Nembhard then came alive in a see-saw overtime with a three-pointer followed by two go-ahead layups – the second giving the Pacers a 136-135 lead with 26.7 seconds left. A deflected pass off Brunson’s fingertips turned the ball back over to Indiana, and former Knick Obi Toppin slammed home a breakaway dunk with 10.9 seconds remaining to seal the win, Indiana’s fourth comeback from 15 points or more down in these playoffs.

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

It wasn’t Miller’s eight points in 8.9 seconds to silence the Garden in the 1995 Eastern Conference semi-finals. It was somehow worse. And not just because Miller had a courtside seat for the carnage while commentating on the game for TNT.

Haliburton finished with 31 points and 11 assists. Nembhard added 15 points, including seven in overtime. Pascal Siakam scored 17, and Myles Turner contributed 14. The Pacers shot 57.1% from the field and 17-of-30 from deep, surviving New York’s fourth-quarter surge – including 14 unanswered points as Brunson sat with five fouls – and executing flawlessly down the stretch.

It was a collapse of historic proportions for New York, who appeared to have the game in hand after a 19-3 run midway through the fourth that opened a 111-94 lead. Since play-by-play tracking began in 1997-98, teams leading by 14 or more points with less than 2:45 remaining in regulation had been 994-0. The Knicks are now the one-in-a-thousand outlier.

The incandescent Brunson poured in 43 points and five assists but was hampered by foul trouble for much of the fourth quarter. Towns, who had struggled mightily from deep in the previous round against Boston, responded with 35 points and 12 rebounds, including 4-of-8 from three. OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges each added 16 points, and the Knicks shot a blistering 53% from the field – but spit the bit when it mattered most.

But the night belonged to Haliburton, who is no stranger to the role of Garden heel. Last year the 25-year-old led the Pacers to a one-sided Game 7 win that ended New York’s season in the second round, departing the arena in a hoodie depicting Miller’s notorious taunt.

“It’s a long series,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. “We’re not going to get too excited about this. We’ve got things to clean up. They got things to clean up. Game 2 is going to be another war.”

The overtime classic on a soggy Wednesday night in Manhattan marked the first Eastern Conference finals game at Madison Square Garden in 25 years – and, fittingly, another installment in one of the NBA’s most storied playoff rivalries. The Knicks have now reached the conference finals four times since 1994. All four times, the opponent has been Indiana. New York won those meetings in 1994 and 1999. The Pacers answered in 2000 – and now again in 2024, with another early blow on enemy hardwood.

Game 2 is Friday night at the Garden. The Knicks will have to regroup fast. The Pacers, after stealing home court in spectacular fashion, are already writing the next chapter of a rivalry that refuses to fade.

“In the playoffs, when you win, it’s the best thing ever. When you lose, it’s the worst thing ever,” Brunson said. “The best way to deal with all that is to stay level-headed and making sure we have each other’s backs.”

The Knicks, who led by 14 points with 2:51 to play in the fourth quarter, succumbed to a barrage of three-pointers from the Indiana Pacers down the stretch before falling in overtime, 138-135, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

New York recovered from the blown lead and Tyrese Haliburton's buzzer-beater to send the game to the extra period by grabbing a four-point edge, and off a steal, Jalen Brunson had a layup taken off the glass in what looked like a goaltend. The Pacers answered with five straight from Andrew Nembhard,starting a back-and-forth battle with Brunson doing the scoring for the Knicks. But Indiana had a one-point edge with 27 seconds to play when head coach Tom Thibodeau called for time after Obi Toppin's tip-slam.

But a turnover, the Knicks' third of the overtime, and a blown defensive assignment led to another Toppin slam to put the visitors up by three with 15 ticks to play. The ball was in Brunson's hand, but his three was way short. Josh Hart grabbed a rebound and found Karl-Anthony Towns, but he was well short, too. When Bridges couldn't corral the rebound, the first game of the best-of-7 series had fully slipped through their fingers.

Here are the takeaways...

- The fourth quarter started poorly, had an amazing middle, and an even worse finish for the Knicks. It began when Brunson, the NBA’s clutch player of the year and engine of the Knicks’ offense, exited after he picked up his fifth foul after just 115 seconds and New York up by two.

OG Anunoby, who finished with 16 points, had a 5-0 run starting with a step-back three to push the lead back to seven. Miles McBride blocked Pascal Siakam as he attempted a jam,Towns added a block of his own, and Indiana was held to 1-for-9 from the floor before Anunoby’s layup gave the Knicks a 16-point lead (their biggest of the game) with 7:22 to play. It was a 14-0 run in under three minutes after Brunson sat.

And then, it all changed with 3:44 to play. Indiana responded with a barrage of threes, and a 10-3 run, cutting it to a seven-point game with 80 seconds to play. Brunson, who returned with five minutes to play and hit the lone three in that run, responded with a driving layup. But Indiana added two more threes (around a Towns layup) to make it a five-point game with 34 seconds left.

Out of a Knicks’ timeout, they turned it over (thanks to a smart Pacers challenge), and an Aaron Nesmith three, his third straight for Indiana, made it a two-point game with 22 seconds to play. After another near turnover on the in-bounds, Towns was fouled with 14 seconds to play but only managed to make the first from the line. Then the Knicks played the foul game: Anunoby got Nesmith immediately, and he made a pair. Siakam got Anunoby, who got just the second with 7.3 to play.

And Haliburton, with a toe barely on the three-point line, hit back iron, had the ball bounce high off the rim and right through to tie the game at the buzzer.

- Brunson finished with 43 points on 15-for-25 shooting (1-for-6 from deep, 12-for-14 from the line) with five assists and seven turnovers. He was a minus-8 in 38 minutes. Towns had 35 points on 11-for-17 shooting (4-for-8 from deep) with 12 rebounds and was a plus-9 in 39 minutes. Anunoby was a minus-12 in 42 minutes. Bridges had 16 points, six rebounds (four offensive), five assists, and was a minus-15 in 46 minutes. Hart was quiet on offense with eight points, but had 13 rebounds, seven assists and was a minus-4 in 44 minutes.

A big difference: Indiana had 27 points off the 15 New York turnovers. The home team managed just four points off of seven turnovers by the visitors.

Haliburton had 31 points (12-for-23) and was a plus-15 in 42 minutes. Nesmith had 30 points (9-for-13) and was a plus-10 in 39 minutes. Siakam added 17 points as a plus-8 in 43 minutes and Nembhard had 15 and was a plus-1 in 35 minutes.

- The key for the Knicks against the Pacers, a team that wants to push the pace and attack New York’s short rotation with waves of players coming off an eight-day layoff, was to limit turnovers and control the defensive glass to keep possessions short.

Unfortunately for the home side, the visitors scarcely missed a shot in the game’s early minutes, missing just three shots in their first 15 attempts after they opened the game by making their first nine field goals. The Knicks made five of their first nine attempts to keep things close. 

Mitchell Robinson entered and the offensive rebounds came right away. After the Pacers matched their biggest lead of the quarter at seven, he corralled his third of the period and kicked it to McBride for a three as part of a big run for New York, including Robinson stuffing an alley-oop. The reserve center added a block and steal and was a plus-6 in five minutes.

The run stretched to 14-5 to give the Knicks a two-point edge after shooting 15-for-23 (65 percent) to Indiana's 14-for-20 (70 percent). Bridges and Towns had eight points each.

Overall, Robinson had two points and eight rebounds (four offensive) and was even in 21 minutes. McBride had nine points (2-for-7) and was a plus-12 in 25 minutes.

- The Pacers’ full-court press began on the first made basket with two men guarding Brunson. But the Knicks’ MVP managed to find his way into the offense and against a wave of Indiana defenders – Nesmith, Nembhard, and TJ McConnell (off the bench) – followed a nine-point first quarter with nine in the second. And at the half, Nembhard had three fouls while Nesmith and McConnell each had two.

But three minutes into the third, it was Brunson who picked up his third foul on the offensive end as he got tangled with Nesmith. (Thibodeau unsuccessfully challenged the call.) Four minutes later, Brunson committed his fourth turnover and then picked up his fourth personal for fouling Haliburton on a jumper. He stayed in the game and put in a floater for an and-1 for seven in the quarter and 25 in the game.

After Haliburton hit a three to give him 23 in the game, Brunson (following a Robinson offensive board) hit a step-back jumper. Haliburton’s response: an air-balled three and a Pacers timeout. Brunson finished the quarter with nine points, of course.

- In the second, the Pacers’ shooting went cold and they suffered through a four-minute stretch without a field goal, including Toppin missing a wide-open tomahawk dunk, leading to Towns knocking down a corner three for a 13-1 Knicks run and an eight-point lead.

Even with Robinson off the court, the Knicks’ offensive rebounding proved a problem for Indiana; the home side had six rebounds on the offensive end (three of the team variety) as the shooting slowed down to 10-for-26 (38 percent) in the second quarter. The Knicks got nine second-chance points and 32 points in the paint through 24 minutes for a 69-62 halftime lead, with Towns adding seven points and Bridges four in the quarter. The Pacers' shooting fell off a cliff in the second: 9-for-26 (35 percent). But they recovered in a big way in the second half.

- Bridges continued to have a terrific two-way game to start the second half, collecting his third block of the game. But Indiana responded with a 10-4 run in less than two minutes, knocking down four-straight buckets to cut New York’s lead to three, forcing a Thibs timeout.

Indiana out-shot attempted New York in the third (21 to 14) as they hit the offensive glass hard, but the Knicks converted a higher percentage (57 to 48). But the nine-point lead in the quarter’s first minute was just three points entering the fourth.

- Cam Payne struggled with the bench unit to start the second quarter, committing two fouls early. But he made his first three since the opening round series to end a long drought from behind the arc. His second three capped a 10-1 run to give New York a five-point edge. He finished with six points and was a plus-5 in 10 minutes.

Highlights

Josh Hart ➡️ Mikal Bridges

(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/RW5rH9pKvd

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) May 22, 2025

KAT SPLASH 🐱

(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/occDGgNeTG

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) May 22, 2025

ALLEY OOP TO MITCHELL ROBINSON! pic.twitter.com/8nCdRChZv4

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) May 22, 2025

Mikal Bridges gets to the basket 💪

(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/Ix7uY4jtVS

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) May 22, 2025

KAT FROM THE CORNER pic.twitter.com/pCLXP2IyPh

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) May 22, 2025

JALEN BRUNSON AND-ONE

(via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/CvSszesmB3

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) May 22, 2025

Mitch keeps it alive and Jalen hits the jumper 🎯

(via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/zDYJ4FvQjE

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) May 22, 2025

OG WITH TWO BIG BUCKETS pic.twitter.com/JYHvwXzRut

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) May 22, 2025

DEUCE MCBRIDE BLOCKS PASCAL SIAKAM AT THE RIM!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/gpgAphDtJl

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) May 22, 2025

What's next

These two teams are back in action at MSG on Friday night for an 8 p.m. tip.