Reggie Miller all the time loved enjoying towards the Knicks, however one particular occasion actually shocked the world.
Reggie Miller has all the time had an antagonistic relationship with the New York Knicks. He and the Indiana Pacers confronted off towards the Knicks on quite a few events.
Whereas the connection hasn’t gotten higher within the years since impartial followers bear in mind Miller’s antics towards the Knicks fairly fondly.
And maybe no date haunts Knicks followers greater than Might seventh, 1995 – a day when Reggie Miller immortalized himself because the villain of Madison Sq. Backyard.
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On Might seventh, 1995, the Indiana Pacers took on the New York Knicks within the second spherical of the Jap Convention playoffs. The Knicks got here into the sequence as favorites, having reached the NBA Finals the earlier yr.
The Pacers have been the third seed within the East that season. Coming into Recreation 1 at Madison Sq. Backyard, the Pacers have been going through an uphill battle.
However the Knicks did nicely to carry off the Pacers. With a bit beneath 20 seconds left within the recreation, the Knicks have been up 105-99. The Knicks have been able to take a Recreation 1 victory into the sequence.
Nonetheless, Reggie Miller had different concepts.
With 18.7 seconds left on the clock, Miller made a clutch three to chop the lead again down to simply three factors.
Miller then shrewdly compelled the Knicks to show the ball over from an in-bound move to make one more clutch three, thus tying the sport.
His coach Larry Brown later stated, by way of TNT Sports activities: “What shocked me was that Reggie had the presence of thoughts to not take a fast two-point shot and as a substitute took one dribble and bought again behind the three-point line to shoot a 3.
“That takes an incredible athlete to do this, a man who actually has ice in his veins, a man who loves the strain and is keen to face the results if he doesn’t make the shot. I’ve by no means seen something prefer it, even immediately.”
The Pacers then fouled John Starks, giving the Knicks the prospect to take the lead. However surprisingly, the underconfident Starks missed each free throws. Patrick Ewing would miss a put-back probability as nicely.
Miller would attain the free-throw line after being fouled, and make two extra free throws to present the Pacers a two-point lead.
And the Knicks would miss their subsequent game-tying efforts, permitting the Pacers to steal Recreation 1. The Pacers would go on to win the sequence and attain the Jap Convention Finals.
Miller would find yourself scoring eight factors in simply 9 seconds. It was a really unreal efficiency, one which cemented him as an All-Time nice.
Talking concerning the feat, Miller advised the Pacers media earlier in 2024: “Now that I’ve had time to mirror on the second — whenever you’re within the center, you’re attempting to win the sport, you clearly don’t give it some thought and the importance doesn’t daybreak on you. Years later, I can admire it.
“It was an ideal storm for us… not for them, although.”
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