There`s a unique quality to the silence of nearly 20,000 people, all sharing an identical thought.
Earlier, they had been shushing loudly.
They shushed as Karl-Anthony Towns stepped to the free throw line late in the fourth quarter, with the lead quickly shrinking.
Shhh!
They shushed OG Anunoby at the line with seven seconds remaining, hoping the quiet would aid his focus and push back the mounting sense of collective dread.
Yet the silence was powerless against the sudden, shocking reality: the New York Knicks were confronting the specter of their playoff past once more.
It felt eerily fitting. Reggie Miller, the notorious `Knick killer` from playoff clashes three decades prior, was courtside broadcasting as the Indiana Pacers mirrored some of his legendary feats in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Madison Square Garden.
Postgame, Miller was spotted acknowledging Tyrese Haliburton, after the audacious young guard paid homage by replicating Miller`s well-known choke gesture from the conclusion of Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals – a game where Miller dropped 25 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter and famously sparred with Spike Lee, inspiring the 2010 documentary `Winning Time.`
Haliburton revealed he`d watched the documentary `probably 50 times` as a child and had waited through two playoff series for the perfect opportunity to perform Miller`s `choke` gesture before the MSG audience.
`That`s simply a historic moment,` Haliburton stated postgame. `Obviously him versus Spike, sort of a one-on-one. My gesture, I felt, was directed at everyone, but particularly [Miller]. I wanted him to witness it most of all.`
Miller certainly saw it, as did all the Knicks legends present that night, who for 46 minutes believed they were about to witness the banishment of old playoff ghosts, only to depart shaking their heads at the latest heartbreak they would need to process.
Merely minutes before Haliburton landed one of the crueler bounce-off-the-rim shots in NBA playoff memory to level the game at the close of regulation, the Knicks had featured all their franchise legends on the jumbotron.
Starting with Amar`e Stoudemire, then Carmelo Anthony, followed by John Starks, Latrell Sprewell, Larry Johnson, Bernard King, Patrick Ewing, Stephon Marbury, Walt Clyde Frazier, and Baron Davis.
Numerous others were present as well, alongside celebrities such as Timothee Chalamet, Larry David, and Ben Stiller. They all understood the historical context of this rivalry.
And at that specific moment, the Knicks seemed to have finally built a sufficient lead to display them on the large screen and allow everyone to applaud with a sense of relief.
The Knicks held a 14-point advantage with 2:51 left in regulation. By almost any standard, that constitutes a secure lead, typically prompting fans to consider early departure to avoid traffic.
It`s the moment when anxieties about playoff ghosts finally subside.
However, the seeds of the Pacers` rally had just begun to sprout.
With 4:45 remaining, Brunson tripped attempting to navigate a Thomas Bryant screen near the top of the key, resulting in Aaron Nesmith being left open for a 3-pointer.
Few gave it much thought at the time. But afterward, Brunson remarked that he felt that moment marked the game`s shift.
`Once he connects on one, you have to be highly vigilant,` Brunson commented. `I need to do a superior job of locating him. I believe he made one or two with me nearby.`
Nesmith proceeded to make six 3-pointers during the final 4:45 of regulation time.
On the broadcast, Miller calmly highlighted the situation, effectively adding insult to injury.
`Another 3 by Nesmith,` Miller observed after Nesmith`s second fourth-quarter three. `That is the ultimate equalizer in basketball.`
Few historical players understand this concept better than he does.
`Oh my goodness,` he exclaimed after Nesmith`s sixth 3-pointer reduced the lead to two points.
By that point, the crowd had fallen silent spontaneously. No one needed to request quiet; no one had anything left to utter.
Haliburton`s game-tying two-pointer settled in everyone`s stomach like an anvil. The ensuing overtime felt like pure digestive distress.
`In the playoffs, victory feels like the ultimate achievement,` Brunson stated postgame. `Defeat feels like the absolute worst.`
There was, however, one historical parallel that might offer a glimmer of hope for Knicks fans, which Haliburton himself highlighted after the game.
`I am aware that [the Pacers] did not ultimately win that series,` Haliburton recalled. The Knicks famously rebounded to win that 1994 Eastern Conference Finals in seven games. `Therefore, I certainly hope not to replicate that outcome.`
