It seemed as if the Indiana Pacers were dead in the water for Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Finals series against the New York Knicks, being down 14 with just under three minutes left in the contest.
Instead, the Knicks stormed back in the final minutes of the contest, and star Tyrese Haliburton tied the game in the closing moments of regulation with a deep two that bounced high off the back of the rim before falling through the bottom of the net to force overtime.
“I felt like it got stuck up there, though,” Haliburton said after Wednesday night’s game, according to ESPN. “But it felt good when it left my hand.”
After the shot, Haliburton mimicked Pacers legend Reggie Miller’s infamous choking gesture after Miller led the Pacers to a comeback victory over the Knicks in a 1994 playoff game.
“I wasn’t like plotting on it or anything,” Haliburton said of the gesture. “Everybody wanted me to do it last year at some point, but it’s got to feel right. It felt right at the time — well, if I would’ve known it was a 2, I would not have done it. So I think I might’ve wasted it.”
It’s not the first time the Pacers have pulled off an improbable comeback this season, but Haliburton would prefer to win in a cleaner fashion moving forward.
“Well, I would like to not keep being in this situation,” Haliburton said. “But we’re just a group that has spent a lot of time with each other. … I think that just gives us all confidence in each other.
“I’ve seen people joke about us. We’re like a college team with how close we are and how we’ve been together. We’re all super young. But man, it’s special. I love playing with these guys.”
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.