Knicks’ Meltdown: How New York Lost Home Court in Eastern Conference Finals
For a fleeting moment, the 19,812 passionate fans at Madison Square Garden – who were on the verge of celebrating a victory that would bring the Knicks closer to their first NBA Finals appearance in 26 years – could finally exhale as Tyrese Haliburton’s shot seemed to miss. The Indiana Pacers’ star point guard’s attempt appeared to dash their hopes, leaving them with a mix of rage and despair.
Probably both.
The Knicks had previously held a commanding 17-point lead, 111-94, with just over six minutes remaining in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. With less than five minutes on the clock, their lead was 15 points, and they still led by nine in the final minute. However, turnovers, missed free throws, and Aaron Nesmith’s exceptional shooting performance – he made six three-pointers in the fourth quarter, a playoff record – allowed the Pacers to close the gap to 125-123. Haliburton drove into the lane, met by Mitchell Robinson, and then stepped back to launch a shot over Robinson that could either win the game or fall short, preserving the Knicks’ victory.
Although Haliburton’s shot bounced off the rim, it lingered in the air, close enough to the basket to give Indiana a glimmer of hope. “It looked like it had a chance,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle commented after their improbable 138-135 overtime victory over the Knicks. “It was awfully high.”
The Pacers on the court were more optimistic. Nesmith, positioned under the basket, simply observed, stating, “I just watched it. I was like, ‘Oh, that’s good.’”
Haliburton, who scored 31 points, maintained that he wasn’t discouraged when the ball hit the rim, as the shot felt right when he released it.
“It felt stuck up there,” Haliburton said afterward. “And honestly, when it went in, I was like, ‘my eyes might have been deceiving me.’”
New York wished it were an illusion.
But the basket was real. Haliburton, along with most of the arena, believed his foot was behind the three-point line and that his buzzer-beater had ended the game. The Pacers stormed the court to celebrate, with Haliburton imitating Reggie Miller’s gesture from the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals, when Miller scored 25 fourth-quarter points against New York. Replays, however, revealed that Haliburton’s foot was on the line, resulting in a tied score of 125-125 and forcing overtime.
“If I would have known it was a two, I would not have done it,” Hailburton said of making the choke sign. “So I think I might have wasted it.”
In the final minute of overtime, a follow-up dunk by Obi Toppin and a precise pass from Haliburton to Andrew Nembhard provided the Pacers with the necessary momentum to withstand late three-point attempts from Jalen Brunson (43 points) and Karl-Anthony Towns (35 points), which could have tied the game.
Considering the playoff history between the two teams dating back to the 1990s – and Indiana’s knack for upsetting the Knicks at home – Indiana’s comeback felt even more extraordinary. The Knicks recovered from Miller’s performance in ’94 to win that series, but the following year, Miller once again silenced the Garden in Game 1 to secure an improbable victory. While the Knicks pushed that 1995 series to a Game 7, Patrick Ewing’s missed shot ended their season.
New York secured the 1999 Eastern Conference title by defeating the Pacers in Game 6 at the Garden, but the next year, Indiana eliminated the Knicks in Game 6 in New York. Ewing, the Knicks’ Hall of Fame center, never played for the team again after that 2000 loss. And before this season, the Knicks hadn’t reached the conference finals since.
Inevitably, in 2025, the Pacers were waiting.
Of all the heartbreak Indiana has inflicted upon Knicks fans over the years, this might be the most painful, considering that teams with a 14-point lead or more in the final 2:50 of the fourth quarter had a record of 970-0 over the past 27 postseasons.
970-0. Until tonight.
Haliburton hit a three-pointer to reduce New York’s lead to 119-108 with 2:39 left. Following a Brunson miss, Nesmith hit a three to make it 119-111. A Brunson layup with 59 seconds gave New York a comfortable 121-112 cushion. However, Nesmith wasn’t finished. A series of Nesmith three-pointers in the last minute, a poor Brunson pass, and missed free throws by Towns and OG Anunoby paved the way for Haliburton’s dramatic buzzer-beater.
“It’s probably the best feeling in the world,” said Nesmith, “when that basket feels like an ocean, and anything you toss, you feel like it’s going to go in. It’s just so much fun.”
The Pacers have a penchant for drama. Since 1996-97, teams trailing by 7 or more points in the final 50 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime in the playoffs are 4-1,702. Indiana has three of those wins, all occurring in this year’s playoffs.
“It’s a 48 minute game,” said Carlisle. “We always say, Pacer basketball is 48 minutes. And tonight it was 53 minutes.”
In his post-game press conference, New York coach Tom Thibodeau appeared somber and struggled to explain what had happened. “You take disappointment,” he said, “and look to turn that into determination.”
The Knicks and Pacers will return to MSG on Friday night. “All my life,” a 21-year-old woman said while exiting the arena, “this team has given me pain.”
At least it can’t get much worse.
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