Pacers Beat Knicks in Overtime Thriller – Haliburton Shines
Tyrese Haliburton thought his final shot in regular time was going in. Then he wasn’t so sure the ball bounced high off the rim and seemed to hang in the air forever.
At first, Haliburton believed it was a 3-pointer to win the game. But then he saw it was just a 2-pointer, which tied the score. It was a lot to take in, but one thought quickly took over.
“Then my focus just became winning it,” Haliburton said.
The Indiana Pacers did just that, completing a dramatic comeback to beat the New York Knicks 138-135 in overtime on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Knicks were ahead by 14 points with less than three minutes left in regular time. But Aaron Nesmith sparked a comeback for the Pacers with a series of big 3-pointers.
With time running out and the Pacers trailing by two, Haliburton nearly lost control of the ball, but recovered and pulled back to the 3-point line. He took the shot, and when it finally dropped in, he ran to the sideline and made a “choke” gesture to the crowd – just like Pacers legend Reggie Miller did in 1994.
Replay showed Haliburton’s toe was on the line, so the basket only counted as two points, tying the game at 125.
In overtime, Andrew Nembhard made the go-ahead basket with 26 seconds left to give the Pacers the win.
Game 2 is on Friday night.
