Playoff comebacks are becoming the Pacers’ signature

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NEW YORK — Typically, a long shot means something has the slightest chance of being successful or accurate. But for Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton, it can mean your team still has a chance to steal a game on the road against a rival in the Eastern Conference finals.

With less than 10 seconds remaining in regulation and the Pacers down two points in Wednesday night’s Game 1, Haliburton ran to the 3-point arc, stepped back and tossed up a prayer.

The ball hit the back of the rim as the backboard illuminated red and took a strong bounce high in the air and the New York crowd cheered.

But Haliburton’s shot seemingly stayed in the air forever. It was as if time stopped. Everything in Madison Square Garden, the place where so many memorable moments in this storied rivalry have happened, moved in slow motion.

The ball then dropped into the basket, sending the Pacers bench running across the court to celebrate as fans in one of the loudest arenas in the NBA fell eerily silent.

It was another Hali-heartbreaker. The third one of the postseason. This time to send the game into overtime.

The Pacers were down by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter, and trailed by 14 points with 3 minutes and 14 seconds left in Game 1 on Wednesday night. But fueled in large part by guard Aaron Nesmith going on a heater and hitting six 3-pointers in the fourth, the Pacers overcame the Knicks and pulled out a 138-135 win.

The comeback kids from Indiana had done it again.

THE INDIANA PACERS, COMEBACK KINGS 👑

🔥 FOUR 17-pt comebacks this playoffs, the MOST by any team in a single postseason since 1998

🔥 THREE 7-pt comebacks in the final minute this playoffs (only 4 such games since 1998)

CAN’T COUNT OUT INDY 😤 https://t.co/IFPhG1EdKu pic.twitter.com/OWExzpBNFH

— NBA (@NBA) May 22, 2025

“It felt like it got stuck up there,” Haliburton said. “Honestly, when it went in, I thought my eyes might be deceiving me in the moment. But it felt good when it left my hand.”

Initially, Haliburton and his teammates thought his shot was a 3 and that the game was over. He celebrated in the moment by re-enacting Pacers legend Reggie Miller’s choking sign from a Game 5 win against New York in the 1994 Eastern Conference finals. But after a review showed Haliburton’s foot was on the line, it was ruled a long, game-tying 2-pointer.

Historic comebacks are supposed to be a rare occurrence. Since 1997-98, teams are 4-1,640 when trailing by seven or more in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime in the playoffs.

The Pacers account for three of those wins. All of them in this year’s playoffs.

Of the 10 most improbable comebacks of the playoffs in the play by play era (since 1997), the 2025 Indiana Pacers have THREE of them.

#4 (tonight), #5 (against the Cavs), and #7 (against the Bucks) pic.twitter.com/kmJciBpZCa

— Mike Beuoy (@inpredict) May 22, 2025

NBA teams were 0-970 when down by 14 or more points in the final 2:50 of regulation in the playoffs over the last 27 postseasons.

They are now 1-970.

— Keerthika Uthayakumar (@keerthikau) May 22, 2025

“We’ve had a lot of these games this year,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. “We’ve probably had a dozen of them throughout the season. A lot of the games early, where we were struggling, were games we had to pull out … it’s a muscle. The more you exercise it, the stronger it gets. It’s not easy. It’s not easy.”

But how exactly do they keep doing it?

Against Milwaukee in the first round, Haliburton blew past Giannis Antetokounmpo for the go-ahead layup with 1.3 seconds left to close an 8-0 run. Indiana won Game 5 119-118.

In Game 2 against Cleveland in the semifinals, Haliburton made a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds remaining as the Pacers scored the final eight points in 47.9 seconds.

For 45 minutes on Wednesday, the Knicks controlled the game. It looked as if they were going to strike first and hand Indiana a loss to start the much-anticipated series. New York star Jalen Brunson was having an incredible night, scoring 32 points on 12-of-19 shooting up to that point. And the Knicks continued to hold off the Pacers during their Brunson-less minutes when he was in foul trouble.

But there was one problem.

“There’s always time on the clock,” Pacers center Myles Turner said after the buzzer-beater against the Cavaliers.

And to make matters even more favorable for Indiana, the Knicks looked a little worn out.

“I feel like everybody on this team is going to work, 110 percent, every single game, until that last buzzer, man,” Obi Toppin said. “I feel like that’s what happened. I feel like they slowed down a little bit, and we just kept it going.”

It’s been their strategy all postseason, play fast and hard and do their best to wear their opponent out. Even when the Knicks seemed to pull away, Indiana would whittle away at the lead bit by bit.

“I think maybe you could say that,” Haliburton said. “They missed a couple of free throws there down the stretch. Had a couple of short misses down the end of the game … I think it’s hard for me to discredit, and say that the ‘wear-down effect’ wasn’t there, you know? I think from everything that you’re seeing, that’s a part of it, and I think that’s a part of our identity — how can we wear on teams for 48 minutes? Obviously, picking up full court, but as well as our offensive pressure, getting downhill, moving, playing fast, I thought that we did a good job offensively of playing our style.”

Indiana scored 23 points in those final 3 minutes and 14 seconds of regulation and outscored New York 13-10 in the extra period.

Six Pacers scored in double figures, which is often a part of their recipe for success. Halliburton finished with 31 points on 12-of-23 shooting, 11 assists and four rebounds. Nesmith, who had 10 points with five minutes to play in the fourth quarter, scored 30. Pascal Siakam added 17 points, six rebounds and two steals. Andrew Nembhard and Myles Turner contributed 15 and 14 points, respectively. And veteran point guard TJ McConnell contributed 10 points off the bench in a game where the reserves hadn’t been spectacular on the offensive end.

For the Knicks and their fans, Haliburton’s game-tying 2 was likely a nightmare. But to Haliburton, making big shots to put more time on the clock is the stuff of dreams, something he imagined when running through his childhood home.

“I think that the biggest thing for me is, I already have the confidence to take the shot in the moment, but I have that confidence from my group,” Haliburton said. “My group wants me to take those shots. My coaching staff wants me to take those shots. I think our organization wants me to take their shots. I think now we’re at the point where our fans want me to take that shot, you know? So, I think everybody’s living and dying with it at that point.”

In today’s make-or-miss NBA, Haliburton and the Pacers are making big shots and even bigger moments.

(Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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