Knicks Choke in 4th Quarter vs. Pacers

The New York Knicks had Madison Square Garden erupting after Karl-Anthony Towns landed a 3-pointer to increase their lead to 17 points with just over six minutes to go.

In most scenarios, that would have been the dagger to close out the first game of the series, but that wasn't the case in Game 1 against the Indiana Pacers.

The Knicks slowly began to unravel as the Pacers chipped away at their deficit, with Aaron Nesmith and Tyrese Haliburton leading the way. In the final five minutes, Nesmith nailed six 3-pointers and a pair of free throws to get within a point with 12 seconds to go.

Haliburton nearly finished off the Knicks with a shot at the buzzer as he was attempting the 3-pointer, but his foot on the line forced the game into overtime, where New York still had a chance to right its wrongs.

With 35 seconds to go in overtime, Jalen Brunson had the Knicks in front, but New York failed to get a stop on either of the final two possessions from the Pacers, resulting in a massive Game 1 collapse.

The Knicks can now respond in Game 2 in one of two ways. They can either thump the Pacers and get even before the series heads to Indiana, or they can continue to collapse and give their opponent a 2-0 lead in the series.

A two-game deficit before hitting the road is the worst case scenario for the Knicks, and it could have easily been prevented if they got one more stop down the stretch.

Unfortunately for the Knicks, they choked this one away. They are going to need the Heimlich in order to get back into the series.