The image of Reggie Miller running up and down the court at Madison Square Garden, both hands around his own neck, gleefully screeching “Chokers! Chokers!” is indelibly burned into my brain.
It was May 7, 1995. The Knicks were leading the Indiana Pacers by six points with 18.7 seconds to go. The game was essentially over.
Even though Miller was an excellent shooter, a three-pointer would still leave the Pacers short and the Knicks with a win in the Eastern Conference Finals.
What happened next is still hard to believe all these years later.
Miller hit a three pointer, stole the ball on the inbound pass, bolted back behind the three-point line and hit another three-pointer, tying the game. After two missed free throws and a missed shot by the Knicks, Miller was fouled, made two free throws, and the Pacers won the game.
Miller had just scored 8 points in 8.9 seconds, a feat widely considered impossible, to turn a six-point deficit into a two-point win.
This was the kind of thing that might happen in a video game, not real life.
As a young Knicks fan, I was devastated. Kids raged the next morning as we gathered before the first bell at school. Miller was public enemy number one.
That was 30 years ago, or 10,972 days if you prefer.
Tonight, with Miller calling the game from the broadcast booth, the Knicks and Pacers met once again for game one of the Eastern Conference Finals at Madison Square Garden, just like they did 30 years ago.
New York had a 14-point lead with about two and a half minutes to go. Victory was assured.
Then the Pacers came storming back with three pointer after three pointer, cutting the lead to two. With seconds left on the game clock, the Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton launched a three pointer, which bounced off the rim high into the air…and came down clean through the hoop.
Just like Miller had three decades ago, Haliburton ran the court at MSG with his hands around his neck, yelling “Chokers!”
It was deja vu. It was a nightmare.
As “luck” would have it, Haliburton’s toe was on the three-point line, rendering his basket a two-pointer that sent the game to overtime.
The crowd tried to rally the Knicks and broke into chants of “F— you, Reggie!” as if to ward off a repeat of history. It didn’t matter. Indiana had all the momentum, and the stunned Knicks couldn’t hold on despite a combined 78 points from the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Absolutely brutal. To rub salt in the wound, my cousins gleefully texted me with taunts like “Oh, the pain of it all!” A small text group consisting of me, my brother and one of our closest childhood friends turned somber. We couldn’t believe this was happening again.
I don’t usually blog about sports, but I feel like I have to release some of this pent up energy. I’d already showered treats upon Bud in celebration and had just given him catnip during a commercial break. We were playing a wand toy game. The mood was jubilant, then it wasn’t. I’m sure little man was confused, but he knows I wasn’t upset at him. Besides, I laughed at how absurd the whole situation was.
After the game, Charles Barkley, legend of the court and the booth, summed up his feelings after watching the ridiculous spectacle: “We get to watch this for our jobs. We’re the luckiest guys on Earth.”
He’s right, although as a lifelong Knicks fan, I don’t feel particularly lucky right now. Let’s hope Lady Luck finally smiles upon a franchise that hasn’t won a damn thing in 50 years and the Knicks turn tonight into nothing more than a bad memory en route to the NBA Finals.
The series, and the rivalry, resumes Friday night at 8 p.m. Whichever team wins the seven-game series will go on to the NBA Finals.
Pain In The Bud 
To quote the late, great Yogi Berra, “It’s deja vu, all over again.” The NY Knicks have been p*ssing me off for decades now… You’re not alone. I was lucky enough to miss this, but somehow there is no way not to know. I hope this column helped you in some little way 🏀 I’m sorry for all of us tbh, but it is what it is. Back to Buddy & Oreo, they don’t give a damn, so good on them. I think I’ll give Oreo a “Defeat Treat” & wait & see how this all ends… Have a good day Big Buddy
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Bud made out like a bandit, so he’s happy. He had catnip, interactive play time with his favorite toy, I set his tunnel up for him, and he had his favorite fish treats in a puzzle feeder.
Then when the ‘nip wore off, he settled down in my lap and fell asleep, so he pretty much checked every box last night. Here’s hoping Oreo and Bud get victory treats on Friday night!
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We’ll all hope collectively. I wish Oreo was good with nip 😕. He hates it. It’s fine, he’s a bottomless pit and for that reason I have to have eyes in the back of my head to keep him safe. Also, so he won’t eat anything & everything (not kidding). Let’s go victory treats!!!! Then we all win…
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Sorry, but I think Knicks fans are among the worst after their recent attacks on both a Pacers fan and an on-air commentator. To make matters worse, booing Tyrese Haliburton because of his kind gesture to the Pacers fan shows they are nothing but neanderthals and thugs.
If I were the refs I’d watch their backs when at MSG…they could find themselves beaten to death after a “bad call” against the Knicks.
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I wasn’t aware of that and just watched the video. Those people are thugs, not true Knicks fans, and certainly not representative of us. I hope they get arrested and charged with gang assault.
As for Haliburton, I don’t think anyone booed him for being kind to the fan. There are enough reasons to boo Haliburton, and he revels in being the heel at MSG.
Personally I think he’s the best pure point guard in the league, from a “floor general” perspective of setting his teammates up, reading the floor and hardly ever turning the ball over. Brunson is the better scorer, but I’ve always admired how good Haliburton is, and he is capable of shooting the lights out when he’s on.
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You KNOW Ramses and I didn’t include you in that group. I should’ve mentioned that. Purrsonally I don’t think anyone should “boo” an athlete unless they’re in Pro Wrestling where it’s kinda mandatory to boo heels…
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No worries, i didn’t take it that way. I think Haliburton enjoys that heel role though, which makes me like him even more even if I hate when he beats the Knicks.
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I’m not a basketball fan, but my daughter and I were out to dinner and the Knicks were on. I commented how everyone in New York was excited because the Knicks were having such a great season. As a Detroit Lions football fan, I am feeling your pain.
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Unfortunately, yeah, it’s likely over now. They won the third game but dropped the 4th. But no one expected them to go this far, and it’s been exciting just to have a good team after so long, so I’m not as bummed as I thought I would be.
I’m like you, but the opposite. I don’t know anything about the NFL, and follow baseball and basketball.
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