{"id":52987,"date":"2025-05-25T06:49:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T06:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/52987\/"},"modified":"2025-05-25T06:49:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T06:49:12","slug":"nba-playoffs-takeaways-pacers-beat-knicks-in-ot-thriller-as-tyrese-haliburtons-shot-takes-game-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/52987\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA playoffs takeaways: Pacers beat Knicks in OT thriller as Tyrese Haliburton\u2019s shot takes Game 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tyrese Haliburton did it again.<\/a><\/p>\n

With a toe on the 3-point line, Haliburton scored two in the final second of regulation<\/a>, sending Game 1<\/a> of the Eastern Conference finals into overtime, where the Indiana Pacers outlasted the New York Knicks 138-135 for a come-from-behind win.<\/p>\n

The Knicks led for much of regulation and were ahead by double digits in the fourth quarter. But the Pacers stayed close enough to make a successful charge in the final minute of regulation. After Haliburton\u2019s shot sent the game to OT, the Pacers took their first lead since the second quarter. Haliburton led the Pacers with 33 points and Aaron Nesmith added 30.<\/p>\n

Haliburton has made a habit of sinking dramatic shots these playoffs. First, he scored the game-winner against the Milwaukee Bucks<\/a> in the first round. Then it was a buzzer-beater against the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> in the Eastern Conference semifinals. And now this.<\/p>\n

The Pacers and Knicks play Game 2 in New York on Friday.<\/p>\n

Indiana silences New York<\/p>\n

Other than the music blasting on the jumbotron, it is silent in Madison Square Garden. The fans are not making a peep. Only days after 20,000 people left this building as if they had all simultaneously won the lottery, the mood has dampened.<\/p>\n

The Pacers have pulled off comeback after comeback this postseason. They\u2019ve done it against Milwaukee, against Cleveland. But none of them were like this. Not with their opponent leading by 14 points with 2:51 to go in regulation. Not with Nesmith splashing in 17 points, including five 3-pointers, just in the final three-and-a-fraction minutes. Not with their opponents\u2019 offensive execution crumbling every possession on both sides of the floor. Not with Haliburton seemingly missing a shot but actually making it, the basketball gods tapping it back in after it shot into the sky off the back rim.<\/p>\n

The comeback was loud. And the building is now silent. \u2014\u00a0Fred Katz, senior NBA writer<\/p>\n

Nesmith keeps Pacers alive<\/p>\n

Nesmith will live on in New York sports history as one of its great villains. A man who came out of nowhere to lead to one of the worst losses in New York sports\u2019 illustrious history. With the Pacers down 113-98 with 4:45 left at Madison Square Garden, Nesmith scored 18 points on six 3s and two free throws to pull the Pacers back from the brink.<\/p>\n

He scored 30 points in all, but those 18 points will go in a time capsule of hate for Knicks fans. Haliburton will get the highlights with the game-tying, toe-touching fadeaway 2 that was inches from a 3, and his Reggie homage, but Nesmith got Indiana there. \u2014 Mike Vorkunov, national reporter<\/p>\n

What this means for New York<\/p>\n

After spending the postseason coming back from large deficits to win games, the Knicks got a dose of their own medicine in Game 1.<\/p>\n

After a dominant fourth quarter, it looked as if New York was going to breeze its way to a win behind solid defense and dominant rebounding. However, similar to how Boston did against the Knicks, New York played a bit arrogantly in the final minutes, shooting bad shots and rushing offense when it wasn\u2019t necessary. The Pacers got hot from 3 and were able to string enough stops together to force overtime behind a Haliburton prayer in regulation.<\/p>\n

This type of loss can potentially swing a series. New York had a chance to set the tone with a dominant win. Instead, it leaves Game 1 with a broken spirit and the Pacers having all the confidence in the world. This is probably the worst loss in recent Knicks history. A team that has shown time and time again how resilient it has been was the antithesis of that on Wednesday night. It may cost New York its season if it doesn\u2019t respond well in Game 2.<\/p>\n

The good thing for the Knicks is that it doesn\u2019t appear that Indiana has an answer for Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, as both starters dominated for most of the game. The Pacers did trap Brunson late, and that caused some issues, but we\u2019ll have to wait until Friday to learn if they feel good enough to deploy that type of coverage for the majority of a contest. \u2014 James Edwards III, Knicks beat writer<\/p>\n

Where Indiana can improve<\/p>\n

Before the start of the series, the Pacers\u2019 bench was viewed as an advantage, not just against the Knicks, but against all of their previous opponents in this postseason. Typically, their second unit is a strength, but as a group, the bench contributed one steal and more personal fouls (seven) than assists (three). The unit did, however, outscore the Knicks\u2019 bench, finishing with 31 points. It was a very forgettable performance defensively from the Indiana bench until late in the game. Despite the win, they\u2019ll need to help the starters on Friday as the Knicks attempt to bounce back.<\/p>\n

Rebounding has been a point of emphasis for Indiana since the playoffs began, as it has been getting beat on the glass. In the first half, the Pacers had 19 total rebounds. Three were on the offensive end, and they were about even with the Knicks. Indiana added 20 rebounds in the second half and finished with 39 and 23 second-chance points. It looks like they\u2019ve finally (maybe?) figured out the glass. \u2014 Shakeia Taylor, staff writer<\/p>\n

(Photo: Brad Penner \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tyrese Haliburton did it again. With a toe on the 3-point line, Haliburton scored two in the final…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2288],"tags":[5,7318,2328,2304,4,2305,2303,260,6138],"class_list":{"0":"post-52987","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb-postseason","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-indiana-pacers","10":"tag-major-league-baseball-playoffs","11":"tag-major-league-baseball-postseason","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-mlb-playoffs","14":"tag-mlb-postseason","15":"tag-nba","16":"tag-new-york-knicks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/114567142699030258","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}