Pacers at their best late, good enough to take home court advantage from Knicks

Aaron Nesmith and Tyrese Haliburton treated Pacers fans to a high level, highlight finish in Game 1 to add to the playoff lore in Madison Square Garden.

Basketball at all levels in Indiana treats time and score awareness as a birthright for ballers, a developmental cornerstone for basketball IQ. Once, again, the Pacers pushed the limits of how to alter the score in a minimal amount of time after rallying from a 9-point deficit with 58 seconds to beat the Knicks in OT, 138-135.

In that final minute, Aaron Nesmith made a trio of threes, adding to a pair he hit earlier to give the Pacers last ditch comeback life, as part of a personal 11-0 run to put the Pacers within one possession of the lead.

Missed free throws by the Knicks added extra oxygen to the Pacers hopes before Tyrese Haliburton sucked all of the air out of the Garden after driving in the lane then scrambling back behind the arc to shoot for the game. With a toe on the line, Haliburton made a legendary two to send the game to OT, teasing the New York faithful with a six-foot bounce off the back iron before the ball went straight through the net.

Reggie Miller’s spot on analysis of the moment was simply laughter as his young protégé paid homage with his signature choke sign delivered 31 years prior. Just when you thought this playoff run coulnd’t get more entertaining, the Pacers take it to another level.

The win added to a crazy stat that is also getting laughable. Since play-by-play data started back in 1997, playoff teams are now 4-1702 in games when trailing by 7 or more points with 50 seconds remaining. The Pacers were down 8 with 41 seconds to go before closing to tie the game and then win in OT. Of course, 3 of those 4 wins out of, again 1,702 chances belong to the Pacers during THIS playoff run.

The Pacers can certainly beat any team when they are at their best, but this game had about 12 minutes of the Pacers at their best if you include the first half of the first quarter and the end of the game, maybe add 3 minutes for the OT close to win.

So, with a 1-0 lead in hand along with seizing home court advantage, the Pacers still have plenty of room to improve so they can dispense with the magical finishes to get wins. The Knicks offense presents plenty of problems with Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns combining for 78 points in Game 1. Mikal Bridges did a pretty good job of attacking when the defense focused elsewhere.

Remarkably, the Knicks bench came up huge, not only holding it down while Brunson dealt with foul trouble, but pushing the Knicks to a double-digit lead that appeared to break the Pacers in the fourth quarter. Fortunately, the Pacers don’t break these days.

For all of the defensive issues (including on the glass) the Pacers dealt with throughout the game, including the reserves struggling to stop the Knicks inside or out, they did accomplish a key checklist item for Game 1: Make the Knicks work.

The Pacers defended 94 feet and were able to push the pace throughout the game. It appeared late in the fourth quarter, that the fact the Pacers were digging into the lead (before winning seemed possible) they were at least making the Knicks finish the full 48 minutes.

As it turned out, the Knicks had their endurance tested for 53 minutes. The strain was apparent on the faces and in the legs of players like KAT and Brunson. Even Josh Hart was losing his footing late as they were running out of juice and trying to fall for fouls.

Incredibly, the Pacers completed that comeback despite missing out on two golden opportunities to steal the ball on inbounds situations in the last minute. Again, fatigue appeared to have the Knicks struggling to get open and make a play but the ball still bounced their way. It came the Pacers way in OT on a late Brunson drive to the hoop when he didn’t try to finish (fatigue?), but threw a pass up to OG that he bobbled and turned into a loose ball scramble. A foul called on Pascal Siakam was overturned to give the Pacers the ball.

Rick Carlisle utilized replay to confirm another turnover for the Pacers on a ball tipped first by Andrew Nembhard and then Brunson. Two of a possible four turnovers in the fourth quarter and OT fueled the ultimate comeback and revealed how the Knicks were leaking oil late. These are little things that added up to give the Pacers life late. This compared to Tom Thibodeau who used up his replay options in regulation, losing a challenge earlier in the game trying to appease Brunson.

Brunson was in foul trouble late thanks to the Pacers working to make him work on the defensive end. The best way to slow down Brunson and KAT going forward is to continue to make them play both ends and test their level of fitness for 48 minutes.

The fatigue formula worked in the first two rounds, but it only works if the Pacers can win early and at least confirm a long series. Mission accomplished in Game 1 and now the Pacers need to back it up by making the Knicks work to earn any advantage they get.

In Game 1, after a hot start by the Pacers, the Knicks took over the possession game in the first half with Mitchell Robinson leading an attack on the glass that had the Pacers scrambling. By taking care of the ball, the Pacers were able to level out the possession game by being +8 in turnovers.

Tightening up the D, and avoiding foul trouble along with trying to minimize the damage on the glass will be the main focus for the Pacers adjustments in Game 2. Staying in touch with a chance to win late is a minimum requirement going forward. While the Pacers have messed with the math on how close to stay late in the fourth quarter, it would be nice if the Blue and Gold could avoid trying to win via historic circumstances in Game 2.

Game 1: Pacers vs. Knicks

Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

When: Friday, May 23, 2025, 8:00 p.m. ET

TV: TNT

Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan

Odds: Pacers +6

Projected Starters

Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner

Knicks: Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns

Injuries

Pacers: Isaiah Jackson (Achilles) - out

Knicks: None