Tyrese Haliburton
Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers is congratulated by his teammates after his game-tying shot against the Knicks
The iconic rivalry between the Knicks and Pacers has been revived since their second-round series in the 2024 playoffs. The stakes have been elevated in the 2025 NBA playoffs, with a berth in the NBA Finals on the line.
The Eastern Conference Finals began in exhilarating fashion on May 21, as the Pacers overcame a nine-point deficit in the final minute of regulation to force overtime. Then, they pulled off a miraculous 138-135 win to take a 1-0 series lead.
The Pacers forced overtime courtesy of Tyrese Haliburton‘s clutch shot to tie the score at 125 apiece. Immediately after his shot, Haliburton pulled out the “choke sign” celebration that Reggie Miller used after scoring 8 points in 8.9 seconds at Madison Square Garden during the 1995 NBA playoffs.
Haliburton revealed he used the celebration just for the sake of Miller, who was incidentally live on the air as part of the TNT Sports announcing crew.
The New Knicks Villain?
“I wanted him [Miller] to see it more than anything,” Haliburton told reporters.
“I think it’s just really cool to continue to make my own history and this group to make our own history while also showing respect and love to the ones who came before us.
“Definitely a special moment and one I won’t forget.”
Many believe that Haliburton is quickly developing a reputation as public enemy No. 1 for Knicks fans, in the same vein as Miller in the 1990s.
Although some pundits took issue with Haliburton’s “choke sign” celebration, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said his point guard had “earned the right to do whatever he wants” given his heroics in the 2025 NBA playoffs.
Wants to Finish the Knicks
Tyrese Haliburton has been so clutch that he’s 11-of-12 on game-tying or game-winning shots in the final two minutes of games in the 2024-25 season (playoffs included). Three of those shots have come in each of the first three rounds of the postseason, against the Bucks (Game 5), Cavaliers (Game 2) and Knicks (Game 1).
It’s worth noting that the Pacers could not beat the Knicks in the 1995 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals despite Miller’s heroics in Game 1.
As such, Haliburton wants to ensure that history doesn’t repeat itself.
“I’ve seen that ‘Winning Time’ doc probably like 50 times growing up, so I know that they didn’t win the series,” Haliburton said of the events after the Miller’s heroics.
“Would not like to repeat that. But I think that was just a historic moment and obviously more him vs. Spike [Lee], kind of the one-on-one.”
The series will remain in New York for Game 2 before shifting to Indiana for Games 3 and 4. The Knicks have the advantage of hosting a potential Game 7 at the Garden.