How do the Indiana Pacers keep finding such ways to win? In Game 1 against the New York Knicks, the Pacers didn’t have a large stretch of control. With 40 seconds, they were down 8. Next moment, Aaron Nesmith went nuclear, hitting three after three, while Haliburton forced overtime with a buzzer-beater. From there, Indiana’s grip was too tight. They didn’t score first in OT, but Madison Square Garden knew it was their night.

Haliburton pulled out the iconic Reggie Miller ‘choke’ celebration, thinking he won the game in regulation. The mishap, though, couldn’t hide the fact that the Pacers broke the Knicks. They overcame a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to steal a win on the road.

And after having done something similar against the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, Haliburton was beyond ecstatic. “I’m so proud of the resilience of this group. We have shown it all year. We’ve had to win in so many different, random, unique ways, and today we just kept going, kept fighting, and man that’s fun,” he said about their statement victory.

Pride was something the entire Pacers community felt at the time. But Tyrese Haliburton didn’t want the victory to get into their heads. Looking back at their performance, he did find one flaw that put Indiana in a dire situation.

“That’s a hell of a win but I do really think there’s a lot for us to improve on. I don’t know what the final rebounding number was. Felt like they dominated us there. That’s an area where we want to be great,” he noted.

The Knicks did win the rebounding convincingly. They grabbed 7 more rebounds than the Pacers. Their tenacity was one of the reasons they maintained a steady and rising lead in the second half. However, even when Jalen Brunson went off for 43, Nesmith’s laser shooting and the Pacers’ thunderous offense seem to be capable of anything.

Never count the Pacers out

If it’s done once, you can call it luck. However, the Indiana Pacers displayed incredible defiance time and time again. When they did it against the Bucks, that was a statement. Never count them out, no matter how pathetic a rut they are stuck in. They proved it again against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 when Hali hit a similar shot as his game-tying make against the Knicks tonight.

But cracking the Knicks and the Clutch Player of the Year, Jalen Brunson, took their feat to new heights. Before this game,  the Knicks had erased two 20-point deficits against the Boston Celtics. Moreover, when they took a marginal lead, the Knicks only lost 1 of their five games.

The Pacers managed to burst through that system. Aaron Nesmith nailed five consecutive threes in the final few minutes of the fourth. It gave life to the Pacers when, evidently, they looked dead for all money. That’s the reason Washington Post’s Ben Golliver terms them a team that frequently ‘cheats death’.

The Pacers had no business winning tonight. But when they put together a few successful possessions, it’s usually a sign. It’s hard to stop the Tyrese Haliburton-led Pacers when they pick up momentum. Then it doesn’t matter whether they are leading or look to be in pole position to lose the game.

Their resilience knows no bounds. And by boasting great depth in their roster, they can ignite a furious fightback from literally anywhere. What were your thoughts on Game 1 of the series? Let us know your views in the comments below.