Knicks, Pacers and Jalen Brunson
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Fadeaway World on MSNFrom 0-970 To Infamy: Knicks Suffer The Worst Collapse Ever In Game 1 Loss To PacersTeams trailing by 9 or more points in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime had a combined record of 0-1,414 in the playoffs since 1998. The Knicks just became the footnote to that infamous stat, marking the first time such a lead was squandered in over a quarter-century of postseason basketball.
The Knicks led by 17 points with 6:26 remaining in the fourth quarter and by nine points with under a minute left, only to lose, 138-135, in overtime at Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks let Game 1 slip right through their fingers, but they learned some very valuable lessons about how to attack the Pacers.
Here's the bad history the Knicks made in the loss: They became the first team to lose a playoff game when leading by 14 or more with 2:45 to play in the fourth quarter. Teams had been a combined 994-0 when leading by 14+ with that much time left.
As the Pacers crept back into the game, the Knicks were confronted with a burden few franchises carry: 50 years of history.
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Jalen Brunson had just tied Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing's franchise record by reaching 30 points in the playoffs for the 18th time with the New York Knicks. Then the Knicks hit the Indiana Pacers with a 14-0 run after Brunson had to go to the bench early in the fourth quarter Wednesday night after picking up his fifth foul,
Knicks fans have seen it all. They've never seen this, though: a loss so jaw-dropping that it somehow silenced the city that never sleeps.
Reggie Miller had a big smile for his mini-me: Tyrese Haliburton. After Haliburton brought the Pacers back from the depths of defeat for a shocking 138-135 win, the star guard mimicked Miller’s iconic choke sign against the Knicks –– and Miller was seen on camera pointing in Haliburton’s direction.
With just over six minutes left in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the New York Knicks were up 17 on the Indiana Pacers. With 2:51 left, after New York had already coughed up some of that lead,
Knicks fans were ready to celebrate a certain Game 1 win. Then there was an inexplicable and painful loss as the party turned into a wake.