HG08 Reviews the Pacers 7 unforgettable playoff reversals

Indiana beat the Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The upper limit of one person, which may be the lower limit of another person, is like a reversal of one team, which may be the collapse of another team. All in all, this is just a matter of perspective.

However, when this happens again and again to a certain team, people start to feel that it is a commendable thing, rather than shirking responsibility to each other. The Bucks, Cavaliers and Knicks all lost to the Indiana Pacers in three rounds of the 2025 playoffs.

These setbacks are undoubtedly devastating for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Cleveland Cavaliers. For the New York Knicks, the Pacers were once 14 points behind with less than four minutes left in the fourth quarter in the game Wednesday at Madison Square Garden Stadium, and finally lost in overtime with a score of 135-138. The impact of the game will take several days to be revealed. However, Friday night (8:00 ET, TNT) everyone should have a glimpse. The Pacers, the "heart team" of the playoffs, have a history of transitioning the game rhythm that can be traced back more than 30 years ago. Here are their most notable times:

1995: Eastern Conference Semi-Finals vs. New York (Game 1)

On May 7, 1995, Reggie Miller dedicated one of the most iconic shooting performances in NBA playoff history.

Scene: On May 7, the Knicks led 105-99 with 18.7 seconds left in the series opener at Madison Square Garden.

The game started with a bland start: Indiana marksman Reggie Miller hit a three-pointer on the left wing. A moment later, after receiving the ball, he cut off a crazy out-of-bounds ball from New York (the home team has used up the timeout, worried about a five-second countdown). Miller retreated to the top of the arc and hit a three-pointer again at almost the same position, tied the score 105-105.

With 13.2 seconds left in the game, John Starks of the Knicks missed two free throws, and Patrick Ewing made the second goal from 10 feet out, but unfortunately he missed the ball. Miller grabbed the rebound, caused a foul, and made both free throws, and the Pacers led 107-105. The Knicks didn't score a single point in the last leg, and defender Greg Anthony stumbled as he held the ball.

Miller's feat is simply called "eight minutes and nine seconds" in the basketball world. Indiana led 3-1 in the series, but needed to play a full seven games to advance, eventually losing to the Orlando Magic seven times in the Eastern Conference Finals.

1998 Eastern Conference Finals vs. Chicago (Game 4)

On May 25, 1998, the Pacers tied the Eastern Conference Finals to a 2-2 tie with 0.7 minutes left in Game 4.

Scene: After losing two consecutive games, the Pacers counterattacked strongly at home, won the third game, and were eager to equalize the score. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, they were 8 points behind, but with 33 seconds left, they were 93-94.

Time was wasted due to some of the less clever strategies of both sides: the Bulls made a mistake, the Pacers missed the shot and then Scotty Pippen missed two free throws with four seconds left. After the timeout, Miller cut into the three-point line from the baseline, pushed Michael Jordan hard (no whistle), sent the ball to the open position, and then caught Derek McGee's outbound ball to the right. His move caused a commotion at the Market Square Arena, but there were 0.4 seconds left in the game. Jordan's three-pointer rolled from the rebound and went out of bounds.

Indiana forced the "Last Dance" version of the Bulls into seven battles and was eventually eliminated. Jordan defeated Miller with 28-22 firepower in the final, but the game was an accident: the Pacers made 14 free throws with 37 free throws, while the Bulls made 17 free throws with 41 free throws.

2000 First round against the Milwaukee Bucks (Game 5)

Scene: At that time, the first round was a five-inning three-win system, with the Bucks and Pacers tied 2-2, and with 3 minutes and 35 seconds left in the decisive moment, the Bucks and Pacers tied 89-89.

The exciting part of this game is that both sides are incomprehensible in the final stage of the game, and also the Pacers' crazy attack at the last moment. The two sides tied 19 times in the whole game, but the 13th leading and alternating scene was deeply imprinted in the audience's mind.

The Milwaukee Bucks once led 94-93, but the Pacers used three misses, three offensive rebounds and one timeout to devour 34 seconds of the last 50 seconds. Eventually, defender Travis Best made a three-pointer with 16 seconds left. After that, the game fell into chaos: Ray Allen missed a three-foot shot from outside, Elvin Johnson made one of two free throws, Indiana Pacers' Jaylen Ross made both free throws with 2 seconds left, while Allen, who became famous with a winning three-pointer in the Miami Heat 13 years later, failed to hit the shot from 31 feet away.

2000 Eastern Conference Finals vs. New York (Game 6)

Scene: Indiana leads the Eastern Conference Finals 3-2, playing at Madison Square Garden, seeking its first NBA Finals experience.

If you go back to the opening few seconds of the fourth quarter (Knicks 65-62), strictly speaking, this is considered a "reversal". Since then, Miller has scored 17 of his game-high 34 points to help eliminate the New York Knicks, which will also be Hall of Famer Ewing's last game in the Knicks..

2025 First round against the Milwaukee Bucks (Game 5)

After being trailed by up to 20 points in the first half, the Pacers beat the Bucks with a layup from Tyres Halliburton in the final seconds of overtime.

Scene: The Pacers won three of the first four games, and this round of the series looks to be about to play a full six games. However, the Bucks ended up leading 118-111 with less than 40 seconds left in overtime.

With 34 seconds left in the game, Andrew Nemhard made a long three-pointer and then stole from Gary Trent II's double-team. This created a chance for Halliburton to complete a three-plus one layup with 17 seconds left, tying the score to 118-117. Under the Pacers' defensive pressure, the Bucks passed the ball desperately to the unguarded Trent, but watched it fly out of bounds between his hands and legs. Then, something inevitable happened: Halliburton dribbled through Giannis Antetokounmpo and made the winning goal with one second left.

2025 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (Game 2)

Scene: The top seed Cavaliers lost in their first home game, but they led by 14 points in the first three quarters of the game and led 119-112 with 57 seconds left.

15 days later, Aaron Nesmith played a stunning victory against the Knicks. He made a tip-in and hit Pascal Siakam's second free throw. Donovan Mitchell was awarded an offensive foul, creating a chance for Siakam to complete a layup with 27 seconds left. After the timeout, Max Strath's side-boundary out-of-ball was cut off, but the Cavaliers seemed to have taken a three-point lead when Halliburton stood on the free throw line with 12 seconds left.

Only the Pacers guard missed the second shot, he grabbed the blocked rebound, retreated near the team badge, ran in front of Ty Jerome, and scored a goal. With one second left in the game, he hit a three-pointer to help the Indiana Pacers win 120-119, while Cleveland never recovered and lost five consecutive games.

2025 Eastern Conference Finals vs. New York (Game 1)

Understand the Pacers staged a historic reversal in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals and beat the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Match Data|Factory Report

Scene: The Pacers surpassed themselves this time. The previous two reversals were completed when they were 7 points behind. This time, they were twice as far behind as 7 points, trailing 102-116 with 3 minutes and 25 seconds left in the game.

Indiana used 153 seconds of the remaining 205 seconds to narrow the score gap to 9 points with 52 seconds left, and the score reached 121-112. Although the Knicks were chased, they still kept scoring, but they didn't score enough. Nesmith made six three-pointers in the last five minutes of regular time, then made two free throws to tie the score to 124-123, and then New York's OG Anunobi made one of two free throws.

Halliburton needs to make multiple instantaneous decisions in the last seven seconds of the fourth quarter. He broke through the Knicks' defense, but was blocked by blocker Mitchell Robinson. He doesn't like the passing routes of Miles Turner and Nesmith. So the Pacers defender retreated outside the three-point line and hit the ground with a touchdown. The back basket, high bounce and vertical drop shots ended up counting two points instead of three points, dragging the game into overtime.

The Knicks' last lead was 135-134 with 35 seconds left in overtime. In the last 15 seconds, Jaylen Brunson and Carl Anthony Towns missed a three-pointer, Nemhard's layup and former Knicks first-round pick Obi Topin's second dunk were enough to catch the score to 135-134.