When the TNT broadcast went through their typical celebrities courtside at Madison Square Garden routine, I think they missed one. Because beyond Ben Stiller, Tracy Morgan, Larry David, and Timothee Chalamet, I swear I saw Joseph Gordon-Levitt flapping his arms throughout the 4th quarter magic that Aaron Nesmith and Tyrese Haliburton displayed in the latest stunning comeback by the Indiana Pacers.
How can you not believe in miracles after watching the Pacers play basketball in the postseason? This is starting to feel like a team of destiny, blessed by a higher power to overcome daunting odds when all hope feels lost.
Down 7 with 40 seconds left against the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 5? No problem. Nembhard 3. Gary Trent Jr. turnover. Tyrese Haliburton and-1. Gary Trent Jr. turnover. Tyrese Haliburton blows by Giannis. Pacers win the series 4-1.
Down 7 again with 48 seconds left and Pascal Siakam just missed a pair of free throws in Game 2 against the Cleveland Cavaliers? Not an issue. Aaron Nesmith putback dunk. Donovan Mitchell offensive foul. Pascal Siakam layup. Max Strus turnover. Tyrese Haliburton goes to the line. Makes 1 of 2, gets his own rebound. Stepback 3-pointer for the win. Big balls dance. Pacers go up 2-0.
But this one? Down 17 with 6:26 left. Down 14 with 2:50 left where NBA teams were 0-970 when down by 14 or more with that little time left in the last 27 years. Down 9 with 58 seconds left in Game 1 of the conference finals in Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks where teams leading the game were 1,434-0 in NBA playoff games? Yeah, also no problem. Make that 1,434-1.
Only one other team in NBA playoff history among games with play-by-play tracking data have come back from 7+ points down with less than a minute left. There’s over 1,600 losses. Then there’s three Pacers wins in the same playoff run. Hali-lujah.
According to ESPN's Win Probability…
Indiana had a 99.7% probability of losing vs. New York in Game 1, a 95.9% probability of losing vs. Cleveland in Game 2 and a 97.9% probability of losing in Game 5 vs. Milwaukee
The odds of winning all three games is 1 in 387,147
— Carson Breber (@Carsobi) May 22, 2025
Reggie Miller, Pace Windu himself, force ghosted himself into the body of Aaron Nesmith, who became the first player to score 20 points in any 5-minute stretch of the second half of a playoff game in NBA history. He just did it in the final five minutes. Miller (June 1, 1994) and Nesmith (last night) are the only two players to score 20 or more points with five 3-pointers in the 4th quarter in a road playoff game.
His teammates and Nesmith agree that he’d die for this game but it wasn’t his death he was causing tonight. Starting simple with wide open threes as the Knicks relaxed thinking they had the game wrapped up. The deep shots consistently grew in difficulty after each successive make. He made his final 3 triples in a span of 29 seconds of the final minute of regulation that cut the Knicks lead from 9 to 2.
Prior to last night, Nesmith had shot 1-of-4 on 3s with at least one dribble in the playoffs. Last season, he shot 1-of-10 on 3s with at least one dribble in the playoffs. For the year, 85.7% of his 3PA had come off ZERO dribbles.
He went a perfect 4-of-4 on dribble 3s in G1.
— Caitlin Cooper (@C2_Cooper) May 22, 2025
Although this was truly the Aaron Nesmith game as he finished with a career high 30 points and admitted with a laugh after the game he wanted the final shot “a little bit,” it’s always Haliburton.
After KAT and OG Anunoby both went just 1 for 2 on free throws as the Knicks narrowly avoided turnovers that preceded both fouls in those possessions, the door was open for the Pacers with 7 seconds left and the team down two. Tyrese Haliburton drove into the paint to go for the tie, but Mikal Bridges poked the ball enough for Haliburton to have the turn around and regather his dribble. Haliburton looked at the clock behind him and went for the jugular backpedalling quickly to gather space from the long arms of Mitchell Robinson and get behind the 3-point line. The shot went up, hit the back of the rim. The ball went so high it was out of the camera’s view momentarily but it must have went up to the heavens to be kissed by the basketball gods as it fell back to earth and went directly through the net. The Garden was silent. Pacers fans in their living rooms were not.
Mark Boyle on the call for Tyrese Haliburton's game-tying shot to force OT in our Game 1 win over the Knicks 📻
"OH THAT DID NOT HAPPEN!!!" pic.twitter.com/2RcsWUapYN
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 22, 2025
“I knew. I’m like, ‘It’s going in,’ but it felt like it was stuck up there,” Haliburton said of his game-tying shot. “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 in but the ball was up there for what felt like an eternity. Special moment.”
Choke sign initiated. Reggie Miller looking on, laughing on the broadcast like a maniacal villain. The Pacers rushed the court thinking it was a game winning buzzer beater for the ages. But the game wasn’t over, Haliburton’s foot was on the line in a play reminiscent of Kevin Durant with the Nets, who ended up losing that game and the series to the Bucks in their title run.
“If I would have known it was a two, I would not have done it,” Haliburton said of emulating the Reggie choke in the Garden. “I might have wasted it.”
Fortunately for the Pacers, they were able to finish this game in overtime but not without making it another mini comeback situation as the Knicks scored the first four points of overtime and after a Myles Turner turnover, it looked like it was about to be six. But Turner hustled back and blocked (or got away with a goaltend) Jalen Brunson at the rim and it turned into an Andrew Nembhard 3-pointer to cut the Knicks lead down to one.
Nembhard was critical in the overtime period as he scored on the next Pacers possession attacking Brunson who was playing with five fouls on a drive to give the Pacers the lead. It was back and forth from there with Brunson scoring or getting to the free throw line and the Pacers finding an answer for every shot. Haliburton took it to the rim and finished through contact, Obi Toppin finished a putback dunk on a rare clutch miss from Haliburton, and Nembhard caught Josh Hart napping and scored on an easy cut and perfect pass from Haliburton, who finished with 31 points and 11 assists, that gave the Pacers the lead for good with 26 seconds left.
hang it in the lourve
Nembhard would then deflect a pass off of Brunson’s hands to give the Pacers the ball after a replay review. Obi Toppin finished a dunk with an uncalled foul to put Indiana up 3 with 13 seconds left. And the Knicks legs were toast on their two chances to tie the game with both Brunson and Towns falling well short on their deep attempts. Game over. Pacers steal another game in these playoffs and home court advantage in the conference finals.
Up 1-0. They still have plenty of work to do to finish this series and continue their ultimate quest of an NBA Championship. Brunson and KAT absolutely destroyed the Pacers defense. The Knicks dominated with Brunson on the bench. There’s plenty to be fixed but it sure feels a lot better to be looking for ways to get better while also ahead in the series. With the Knicks shorter rotation, the longer the series goes, the more you feel like it favors the deeper Indiana team that doesn’t put as many minutes on their stars.
“I saw that Winning Time doc probably like 50 times growing up,” Haliburton said after the game about what he knew about the historical significance of the choke sign. “So I know that they didn’t win the series. I would not like to repeat that.”
Let the fun continue with Game 2 on Friday.
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