Tyrese Haliburton’s Clear Comments on Reggie Miller After Pacers’ Playoff Win

Right after Haliburton scored to tie the game at 125 at the end of regulation, he gave the crowd at the Garden the choke sign. Afterward, he said he did so to honor Pacers legend Reggie Miller, who was calling the game for TNT.

"I wanted [Reggie Miller] to see [the choke celebration] more than anything," Haliburton said.

This matchup is a revival of the rivalry the two franchises had in the 1990s when Miller was one of the NBA's greatest clutch shooters. In 1994, they met in the Eastern Conference finals in a series that defined the rivalry.

In Game 5 of that series, Indiana trailed by a sizable margin heading into the fourth quarter, but Miller exploded for 25 points in that final period. He stared at Spike Lee, the filmmaker who is perhaps the Knicks' most famous fan, after a number of his shots, and at one point, he gave Lee the choke sign.

Behind Miller's fireworks, Indiana won 93-86 to take a 3-2 series lead. However, the Knicks won the next two games to take the series.

This wasn't the first time Haliburton delivered clutch heroics in this year's playoffs. In Game 2 of the previous round versus the Cleveland Cavaliers, he hit a gutsy 3-pointer just before time expired to give the Pacers a 120-119 win in Cleveland and a 2-0 series lead.

This year's series between Indiana and New York already has the look of one that will go the limit. Perhaps there will be plenty more fireworks on both sides before one team survives and advances to the NBA Finals.