Pacers erase 17-point deficit, take Game 1 over Knicks in OT

The Indiana Pacers erased a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to top the New York Knicks 138-135 in overtime in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Tyrese Haliburton forced the extra frame with a buzzer-beating jumper that he originally thought gave Indiana the victory, but a review revealed his toe was on the 3-point line, making it a 2-point, game-tying shot.

Haliburton finished the game with 31 points and 11 assists.

"It ain't over till it's over," he said postgame. "We just figured out a way to win, man. I'm so proud of this group."

Haliburton didn't just supply the most important basket of the game, but also its most memorable moment. He recreated Pacers legend and Knicks' nemesis Reggie Miller's choking celebration from the 1994 playoffs after hitting the shot, even pointing at the sharpshooter, who was broadcasting the game courtside.

"It felt right at the time," Haliburton said, per SNY Knicks. "If I would've known it was a two, I would not have done it. I might have wasted it. If I do it again, people might say I'm aura-farming. I don't plan on using it again."

Aaron Nesmith hit six threes in the fourth as part of a 30-point showing to fuel the comeback.

"I just knew what the game needed, what my teammates needed me to do, and I know I'm a phenomenal shooter, so I just trusted the process and let it fly," Nesmith said, according to basketball insider Adam Zagoria.

The Pacers scored 23 points in the final 3:14 of regulation, the most in that amount of time in a playoff game during the play-by-play era, according to The Associated Press' Tim Reynolds.

Jalen Brunson put up a game-high 43 points in 38 minutes, but foul trouble halted his impact on the contest - he had to sit for over five minutes in the final frame.

The Knicks led by nine with 1:00 in the fourth quarter before losing the game. Entering Wednesday's action, teams leading by nine-plus by that point in a playoff matchup were 1434-0 since 1997, according to Sportsnet Stats.

"They can score the ball. Nesmith got loose, Haliburton hit big shots," Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said, according to SNY Knicks. "You just can never let your guard down against them. No lead is safe."

Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final is scheduled for Friday at 8 p.m. ET.