Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton highlighted his breakout season with 26 points to lead his team to a Game 7 victory over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Sunday in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
It was a statement game for the fourth-year point guard, and Haliburton showed he was conscious of seizing the moment as he trash-talked the Knicks fans sitting courtside after hitting a 3-pointer to give the Pacers a 34-point lead. 22 in the first quarter. .
Haliburton’s interaction was reminiscent of Pacers legend Reggie Miller. coming and going with Knicks fans during the 1994 and 1995 NBA playoffs. Those matchups inspired a 2010 ESPN “30 for “30” documentary.Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the New York Knicks“.
Miller is considered a public enemy at MSG to this day due to those infamous matchups, and fans reminded him of that when he called Game 2 of this year’s Pacers-Knicks series for TNT.
The Hall of Famer got the last laugh from Knicks fans in one of those two postseason matchups (he lost in 1994, but won in 1995). He also may have received a last indirect word from Haliburton after the Pacers’ big win knocked New York out of the playoffs and put the Pacers in the Eastern Finals, where they will face the top-ranked Boston Celtics. favorites.
After Indiana’s victory, Haliburton appeared at the postgame press conference wearing a hoodie with a photo of Miller’s infamous “choke” gesture directed at Knicks superfan Spike Lee during the 1994 playoffs. It was a bold sartorial choice for Haliburton, which he falsely tried to downplay.
“I’m just wearing a hoodie. I like to be comfortable on the plane.” Haliburton said in front of journalists and laughing teammates. “I received this hoodie like two days ago. I appreciate whoever gave it to me.”
Haliburton didn’t wear that hoodie upon arrival at MSG for Sunday’s game. That would have been too bold a step, one he would have had to take for the rest of his career if the Pacers had lost. So either he packed that jersey in hopes of showing it off after a win, or someone on the team brought it to New York.
Regardless of the response, the hoodie was a bold and brazen proclamation, one that should stoke a rivalry with the Knicks and their fans (and make Haliburton a legend for Pacers fans) for years to come.
During a season in which Haliburton was named a starter for the Eastern Conference All-Star team, he led Indiana to the finals of the NBA’s season tournament and fueled its first trip to the Eastern Finals since the 2013-14 campaign. , having fun with NBA history at the expense of his opponent was an attractive gesture to remember.
