Why Celtics Should Feel Sick About Knicks-Pacers Showdown

The sight of watching Tyrese Haliburton recreate Reggie Miller’s iconic choke gesture 31 years later should’ve hit home especially for the Boston Celtics, who wallowed in their failure watching the Eastern Conference finals from home.

It should’ve made every single person within the organization sick to their stomachs.

Haliburton continued writing his legacy story on Wednesday night by guiding the Indiana Pacers past a 14-point deficit with 2:40 left in regulation to defeat the New York Knicks and take a 1-0 series lead. The 25-year-old drained a game-tying shot in the final seconds of the fourth quarter that, 31 years from now, could be remembered as an even more iconic Pacers moment than Miller’s 1994 taunt.

The same team that faltered against the Celtics at this same stage assembled an all-time comeback that’s put Indiana three wins away from the 2025 NBA Finals — and they’re even hungrier than last year. Haliburton and the Pacers looked adversity dead in the eye and left Spike Lee, Timothée Chalamet and Carmelo Anthony in a muted state of shock at Madison Square Garden. It didn’t take an unhinged offensive scheme encouraged by a stubborn head coach to seal the deal either, and that’s what was most impressive.

Indiana inadvertently exploited everything wrong with Boston: the arrogance, the inability to understand what the moment calls for, and the soft-spoken locker room demeanor that makes the Celtics — at their lowest point — a pushover team. Blowing a 14-point lead was inexcusable on New York’s part, but coughing up back-to-back 20-point leads was an even more heinous offense that Boston should lose sleep over. Instead, the Celtics submitted to the Knicks and allowed Jalen Brunson’s crew to advance and turn their title repeat hopes into a front door carpet to wipe New York’s dirty Timberland boots with.

Problematic? Boston’s post-elimination hugfest and bouquet of praise for New York wouldn’t suggest so. There’s a difference between being outplayed and outplaying yourself, and the Celtics don’t want to accept the fact that they co-wrote their own destruction. The Knicks weren’t special; they were vigilant and self-aware.

Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens sort of alluded to the accountability that we never hear from head coach Joe Mazzulla.

“Listen, the reality is we blew the first two games, right? Stevens said during last week’s end-of-season press conference, per NBC Sports Boston. “And that’s why we put ourselves in a tough spot. I realize — and we all realize — these leads go fast, these games go fast, but we had our opportunities. Yes, you can win when you’re down 2-0, but you’ve just diminished your margin for error.”

Stevens emphasized: “We had opportunities to win those first two home games, and we put ourselves behind the eight-ball and New York gained, what I thought was, not only confidence but momentum.”

The reality was that the Celtics became the fat and happy team they claimed they wouldn’t during training camp. They were content with living with the result of where the irrational 3-point fest would leave them, and even though adjustments were an option, that avenue was too beneath Mazzulla. It wasn’t conducive to the (broken) philosophy that didn’t help Boston eliminate the Orlando Magic in Round 1, and it didn’t align with the analytics that the Celtics have gushed over obsessively in the Mazzulla era.

Boston’s know-it-all attitude pulled the plug when its season lay on its deathbed in critical condition in the second round.

Indiana ranked 16th in 3-pointers made (13.2) during the regular season, behind half of the league’s teams, including the Celtics and seven non-playoff contenders. Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle doesn’t subscribe to the hero-ball method, although when Indiana does need to be desperate, the team can — as ex-Celtics first-rounder Aaron Nesmith proved in Game 1. It’s all about situational awareness, which the Pacers are mastering.

Haliburton and Indiana became the first team out of 971 attempts to come back after trailing 14-plus points in the final 2:50 of regulation in playoff history.

Mzzulla and the Celtics could learn a thing or two this go-around.