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New York Knicks fans learned a valuable lesson on Wednesday night: Never count your chickens before they hatch. It’s a lesson you’d think they’d have learned in 1999 when Reggie Miller infamously broke their hearts in the Eastern Conference Finals. But as evidenced by the “**Knicks in four!**” chants ringing through the streets, it’s clear that didn’t happen.
The Knicks held a 15-point led with 4:55 against Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night. The lead was 11 with 2:15 to go, and still at nine with 58 seconds remaining. But as Knicks fans in the streets outside of Madison Square Garden chanted “Knicks in four,” confident that their team was about to sweep its was into the NBA Finals, Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith flipped the script.
Knicks fans were chanting “Knicks in 4” in the final minutes of regulation, when victory looked assured.
It will not be Knicks in 4. pic.twitter.com/7QXzbL9JxU
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) May 22, 2025
Nesmith hit five 3-pointers in a row to pull the Pacers within striking distance before Haliburton hit a clutch buzzer-beater to send the game to overtime. Haliburton, thinking he’d won the game, celebrated with the same iconic choke gesture that Miller made in Game 2 of the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals when he scored eight points in nine seconds to spark a similarly improbably comeback.
“I knew it was going in,” Haliburton said. “I felt like it got stuck up there. Honestly, when it went in, I felt like my eyes might have been deceiving me in the moment. But it felt good when it left my hand. I thought it was going to go in. The ball felt like it was up there for eternity.”
The Pacers then outscored the Knicks 13-10 in overtime to steal Game 1 of the series. It was a game and an ending that will live on forever in NBA history.
But Knicks fans do have one thing to hang their hats on. In 1999, New York went on to win the series 4-2 despite Miller’s Game 2 heroics. If this Knicks team can do the same, the Game 1 choke job will be forgiven. But it cannot, the epic collapse will haunt New Yorkers for years to come.