By Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com
The Eastern Conference Finals continue tonight with the No. 4 seed Indiana Pacers visiting the No. 3 seed New York Knicks in Game Two at Madison Square Garden on TNT. Indiana leads 1-0 after picking up a stunning 138-135 overtime win on Wednesday night. New York won two of three against Indiana during the regular season. The Pacers and Knicks advancing to the Conference Finals is a big surprise when you consider the Eastern Conference’s top two seeds — 64-18 Cleveland and 61-21 Boston — were overwhelming favorites to reach this round. New York is a 6-point favorite and the total is 225.5.
INDIANA-NEW YORK: THE HISTORY
Indiana and New York have a fiery postseason history that goes back to 1993. The teams met six times over an eight-year span from 1993-2000. They split those six meetings with the Knicks winning in 1993, 1994 and 1999, and Indiana winning in 1995, 1998 and 2000. They met three times in the Conference Finals (1994, 1999, 2000), twice in the Conference Semifinals (1995, 1998) and once in the first round (1993).
Those series featured some memorable moments such as Knicks guard John Starks headbutting Pacers All-Star Reggie Miller in the Game Three of the 1993 first-round series. Reggie Miller scoring 25 fourth-quarter points to rally the Pacers to a 93-86 win in Game Five of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals. Reggie Miller scoring 8 points in 8.9 seconds allowing Indiana to pull out a shocking 107-105 victory in Game 1 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals. Indiana also made the franchise’s first-ever NBA Finals appearance after winning Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals at Madison Square Garden.
After a 23-year hiatus, the teams matched up in last year’s Eastern Conference Semifinals with Indiana outlasting New York 4-3 in a grueling seven-game series. Indiana set an NBA playoff record by shooting 67.1 percent from the floor in their 130-109 Game 7 win at Madison Square Garden to advance. The Knicks were undermanned in last year’s tilt as Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanovic missed the entire series, OJ Anunoby missed four games, and Jalen Brunson broke his hand in the second quarter of Game 7.
The Pacers and Knicks are also somewhat intertwined due to the 1985 draft lottery. The NBA instituted a lottery system to determine who gets the No. 1 overall pick — where then-commissioner David Stern would pick the team that gets the No. 1 pick out of a rotating hopper — in an effort to prevent teams from intentionally losing games to obtain the first pick.
The 1984-85 New York Knicks finished with the third-worst record in the NBA at 24-58, but ended up with the No. 1 pick after commissioner David Stern picked their envelope out of the rotating hopper — in a move that many considered suspicious then and now. The Knicks selected Georgetown center Patrick Ewing, who was one of the most ballyhooed draft prospects of all time. Ewing led New York to the 1994 NBA Finals — they slipped past Indiana 4-3 in the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals — and became one of the great centers in NBA history during his 17 NBA seasons.
Indiana got the second pick in the 1985 NBA draft — and selected the late Wayman Tisdale — but tied for the NBA’s worst record in 1984-85 (22-60) and had an excellent shot at drafting Patrick Ewing under the pre-1985 format where the the draft order was determined strictly by record. How would things have played out for both Indiana and New York if Patrick Ewing ended up on the Pacers in 1985, instead of the Knicks?
GAME ONE RECAP
With Indiana and New York coming off upsets of the Eastern Conference’s top teams — Indiana ousted Cleveland 4-1, while New York took out the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics 4-2 — in the conference semis, and the backdrop of these teams battling in a hard-fought, 7-game series one year ago in the playoffs, Game One kicked off on Wednesday night in front of a raucous Madison Square Garden crowd. The last time New York hosted an Eastern Conference finals game was on June 2, 2000 against the Indiana Pacers.
Unfortunately for Knicks fans, they went home disappointed as New York blew fourth-quarter leads of 17 and 14 points in a 138-135 overtime loss to Indiana in Game One. Indiana rallied behind the red-hot three-point shooting of Aaron Nesmith and clutch baskets from Tyrese Haliburton. Indiana and New York produced the highest scoring Conference finals game in NBA history.
Both teams opened Game One running and gunning in a high scoring first quarter where the Knicks led 36-34 heading into the second. There was more fast-paced action in the second quarter as the Knicks grabbed a 69-62 advantage at the half. The third quarter saw a slower pace with Indiana outscoring New York 25-21 to pull within 90-87 after three.
The pace picked back up in the final frame with the Knicks able to break the game open and take a 111-94 lead with 6:23 remaining after a Karl-Anthony Towns three-pointer. New York appeared to be in complete control over the next couple of minutes as they maintained a double-digit lead (119-108) with 2:18 left in the game. A few possessions later, Jalen Brunson hit a layup that gave the Knicks what appeared to be an insurmountable 121-112 lead with 58.1 seconds left.
With New York up 121-112 with 58.1 seconds left in regulation, Indiana was inexplicably able score 14 points in the final minute to force overtime. Aaron Nesmith caught fire and knocked down three straight 3-pointers and hit two free throws that pulled the Pacers to within 124-123 with 12.1 seconds remaining. OG Anunoby was fouled and hit one of two free throws to give the Knicks a 125-123.
On the final possession of regulation and Indiana down 125-123, Tyrese Haliburton dribbled down the lane, lost control of his dribble, regained it, dribbled back out towards the three-point line and released a shot that clanked off the back of the rim, bounced straight up and then miraculously fell through the hoop.
Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers celebrated as if they won the game — Haliburton even made the infamous choking symbol towards the New York crowd which was reminiscent of Reggie Miller’s choking gesture towards the New York crowd in Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference finals. But replays showed Haliburton’s foot was on the 3-point line, so the shot counted as a 2-pointer and the game went to overtime tied at 125.
Indiana outscored New York 13-10 in the overtime to complete the improbable 138-135 comeback victory. Andrew Nembhard scored 7 of Indiana’s 13 points in overtime. Obi Toppin’s dunk with 15.1 seconds left in overtime provided Indiana’s final points. Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns both missed their 3-point attempts in the final seconds that could have tied the game.
Indiana’s fourth quarter hero Aaron Nesmith finished with 30 points (9-13 FG, 8-9 3Pt, 4-4 FT), two rebounds, two blocks and 1 steal in 39 minutes. He scored 20 points in the final five minutes of regulation. It was Nesmith’s highest scoring output since scoring 30 in a March 16 regular season loss at Milwaukee. Tyrese Haliburton added 31 points (12-23 FG, 4-12 3Pt, 3-4 FT), 11 assists, 4 rebounds and a steal over 42 minutes.
Jalen Brunson finished with a game-high and playoff-high 43 points (15-25 FG, 1-6 3Pt, 12-14 FT) and 5 assists over 38 minutes for New York in the loss. Karl-Anthony Towns provided 35 points (11-17 FG, 4-8 3Pt, 9-11 FT), 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block in 40 minutes.
THE PICK: PACERS (+6)
The Knicks suffered a demoralizing defeat in Game One at home on Wednesday night. It was a similar type of defeat that we’ve seen sap the confidence of higher-seeded teams like Boston and Cleveland in earlier rounds of the playoffs. I think it will be very difficult for the Knicks to get past Wednesday night’s loss. The Pacers are now 9-2 in the playoffs, and I expect their pristine postseason performance will continue tonight in Game Two. Take the Points and the Pacers here!