It was the controversial call that helped doom the Knicks on Wednesday night in a gut-wrenching 138-135 Game 1 loss to the Pacers.
In a throwback to 1994, the Knicks watched a lead disappear in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, with an overturned foul call swinging the tide even further as New York clung to a five-point lead with 30 seconds left on the clock.
Originally, the Pacers’ Pascal Siakam was been called for a foul on the Knicks’ OG Anunoby, but after Indiana challenged the call, officials deemed the contact to jar the ball loose was legal and the Pacers had clear possession of the ball afterwards.
On the TNT broadcast, analyst Stan Van Gundy was convinced the contact after Anunoby lost the ball was severe enough that it deserved to be called a foul — and noted that the length of the replay was proof there was no clear evidence to overturn it.
What followed was Knicks fans’ worst nightmare as Aaron Nesmith, who spearheaded the Pacers’ rally late in the fourth quarter, hit a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to cut their deficit to two.
Tyrese Haliburton then hit a game-tying buzzer-beater seconds later — that he thought was a game-winner — and taunted the Madison Square Garden crowd by recreating Reggie Miller’s infamous choking gesture.
The Pacers and Knicks traded baskets in the overtime period, but the Pacers came away with the series-opening win.
“They can score the ball, Nesmith got loose, Haliburton hit big shots. You can just never let your guard down against them. No lead is safe,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters after the loss.
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The Knicks are back in the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000, a series they lost to the Pacers.
Indiana also knocked the Knicks out of the playoffs last year, and even after the Game 1 win, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle wasn’t getting ahead of himself.
“This is Day 1 of 13 days, and remarkable resilience by our guys,” he said. “Hanging in and finding a way to get the thing to overtime. And they made enough plays. It’s a long series. We’re not going to get too excited about this. We got things to clean up.
“They got things to clean up, and Game 2 is going to be another war.”
