They have renamed 15 streets across New York in honor of the players who dragged the Knicks to this point, the crossroads of history.
But at the end of a bonkers night, after four breathless quarters and 25 years of waiting, after a brief interruption from Mary J. Blige, after a scarcely believable finale and five nerve-shredding minutes of overtime, it was Tyrese Haliburton, Aaron Nesmith and the Indiana Pacers who took a first step down another path signposted: promised land.
Where to even start with what unfolded inside Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night? How to make sense of the carnage in the closing minutes of this opening game of the Eastern Conference Finals?
The Knicks have served up some remarkable late drama in this postseason. Here they stole defeat from victory. They choked, if you ask Haliburton, who stunned MSG with a last-gasp, game-tying score and then wrapped his hands around his neck.
In so doing, he imitated Reggie Miller, who three decades ago made the same gesture at Spike Lee and wrote one of the many chapters of this remarkable rivalry. On this evidence, the ninth Pacers-Knicks postseason series should be another classic.
Tyrese Haliburton inspired a miraculous comeback against the New York Knicks at MSG
The Pacers guard tied the game before Indiana won Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals
The Knicks had this won. With 2:51 on the clock, they led by 14 points. With under a minute left, the cushion was nine and a party was breaking outside inside MSG. But Aaron Nesmith made three three-pointers in 29 seconds and then Haliburton made another on the buzzer. Or so he thought.
The ball clattered into the rim and hung in the air for a moment. Long enough for cheers to be heard from the stands. Then net rippled, the Pacers bench emptied and Haliburton taunted the crowd.
The Pacers had this won. Only for replays to show that Haliburton’s toenail was on the line. And so we went into overtime and MSG was put through another dose of drama.
By the time Haliburton had his hands on the ball once more, with only milliseconds to go, this great arena had been gutted and silenced.
In the end, the Pacers escaped with a 138-135 victory that edges them closer to a first NBA Finals since 2000. For the Knicks, the inquest will begin immediately.
