Long before Tyrese Haliburton emerged as a terrific clutch performer for the Indiana Pacers, Reggie Miller played that role to devastating effect. Miller spent his entire 18-year NBA career with the Pacers and delivered in the big moments time and again.
The New York Knicks were Miller's favorite opponents, as they were on the receiving end of three of his most iconic performances. Miller scored 25 points in the fourth quarter of Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference finals against the Knicks to lead the Pacers to victory.
Then, in Game 1 of the 1995 Eastern Conference semifinals, Miller scored eight points in nine seconds to bury the Knicks again. Five years later, he'd score 17 points in the fourth quarter of Game 6 of the 2000 Eastern Conference finals to lead the Pacers to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.
Simply put, Miller was clutch. His career averages of 18.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game don't jump off the screen, but there is a good reason why he was still selected to the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team. There were few who were more feared than he in those big moments.
A great indicator of how clutch Miller was is a statistic that has been doing the rounds on social media recently. When it comes to the most game-tying/go-ahead field goals in the final five seconds of regulation and overtime since the 1997 playoffs, the Pacers icon only trails LeBron James.
That fact came to Miller's attention, too, and he was surprised by it.
"Who knew," Miller wrote.
It's important to point out that Miller had played in 49 playoff games before the 1997 playoffs. The fact that you can take away a big chunk of his postseason career and he still ranks this high is incredible.
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