Knicks choke away lead in final minutes as Pacers…
The Charles Smith Memorial. Reggie Miller’s eight factors in eight seconds.
This goes proper up there among the best Knicks playoff collapses of all time, made worse that they’d an additional 5 minutes and couldn’t get it performed.
A 17-point fourth-quarter lead was wasted. A promising begin in the Eastern Conference finals turned disastrous.
The Pacers stole Game 1 by reeling off 23 factors in the final 3:14 of regulation and outlasting the Knicks 138-135 in extra time in entrance of a shocked Garden crowd.
Tyrese Haliburton despatched the sport into extra time.
Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers is congratulated by his teammates after scoring a game-tying basket against the New York Knicks as time expires in the fourth quarter in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. Getty Images
Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) is mobbed by teammates as he makes a choking movement after hitting a shot against the New York Knicks at the tip of regulation to tie Game 1 of the NBA basketball Eastern Conference final, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in New York. AP
Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) steps on the 3-point line as he shoots a 2-point shot against the New York Knicks. AP
Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson missed potential game-tying 3-pointers in the final seconds and the Knicks now path in a postseason sequence for the first time this spring.
Josh Hart of the New York Knicks places up a shot in Game 1. Jason Szenes / New York Post
They scored the first 4 factors of the additional session, but had been outscored 13-6 the remaining of the way in which.
It all started to go incorrect when Brunson was blocked in transition, main to an Andrew Nembhard 3-pointer that sliced the Knicks lead to one.
Brunson had 43 factors in defeat and Towns added 35.
Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns shake arms. Jason Szenes / New York Post
Tyrese Haliburton scored 31 for the Pacers. Game 2 is Friday evening back at the Garden.
The Knicks blew a 17-point fourth-quarter lead, and a 14-point edge with 2:51 to go. Aaron Nesmith went wild, hitting 5 3-pointers.
Towns and OG Anunoby missed killer free throws in the final 14.3 seconds.
It appeared just like the Pacers had received it, when Haliburton hit a 3-pointer that bounced off the back rim and dropped in.
Karl-Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks dribbles the ball during the sport against the Indiana Pacers during Game 1 of the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals on May 21, 2025 at Madison Square Garden. NBAE via Getty Images
Indiana celebrated prefer it was a game-winner, but Haliburton’s toe was on the road for a 2-pointer, sending the sport to extra time.
The opening minutes felt related to the Celtics sequence, when the Knicks had been virtually all the time enjoying from behind.
The Pacers scored on their first eight offensive possessions, made their first 9 photographs and led by as many as seven in the early going.
But while the Knicks weren’t getting stops in the opening quarter, neither had been the Pacers. Mikal Bridges began fast, scoring eight factors in the period, and the Knicks outscored Indiana 14-5 over the final 2:34 of the stanza.
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson is greeted by New York Knicks middle Karl-Anthony Towns after he places up a shot during the second quarter in Game 1 on May 21, 2025. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
It was a seven-point lead for the Knicks at the break, despite permitting the Pacers to shoot 51.1 p.c from the sector. It was one of the higher offensive halves of the playoffs, one in which Tom Thibodeau’s crew stacked up 15 assists, shot 8-of-19 from 3-point vary and had three gamers — Towns, Brunson and Bridges — mix for 45 factors on 17-of-30 capturing.
They had been plus-four on the glass and plus-12 in factors in the paint, while limiting the Pacers’ stout transition video games.
The greatest shock got here in how the 2 benches carried out. It was supposed to be a main Indiana benefit. That wasn’t the case in the first 24 minutes, Knicks reserves accounting for 13 factors, only three fewer than the Pacers second unit.
Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers reacts after Jalen Brunson #11 of the New York Knicks is knocked down during extra time. Jason Szenes / New York Post
Cam Payne hit a pair of 3-pointers in a 13-1 run — his first two 3s since the first sport of the postseason — and Mitchell Robinson made his typical impression on the defensive finish.
Held to six factors in the first half, Pascal Siakam stored the Pacers close with a six-point third quarter.
It was a shaky offensive period for the Knicks, who managed just 21 factors, dedicated 4 turnovers and didn’t hit a single 3-pointer.
Their lead was only three coming into the final 12 minutes.
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