Pacers vs Knicks (138-135)
The Indiana Pacers won game one of the Eastern Conference final at Madison Square Garden, much to the dismay of the packed Knicks home arena. New York had the game locked down early in the fourth quarter by as much as a 16-point lead. Indiana made a swift comeback as the game came to a close. Tyrese Haliburton made the final shot with less than two seconds on the clock to tie the game at 125 points each and force an overtime, which they went ahead to win 138-135.
Knicks fans began their celebrations early, seeing as how the Pacers were trailing at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but their joy was short-lived as the Pacers traded buckets and eventually caught up. After the buzzer-beater, Haliburton reached for his neck with both hands and made a choking taunt at the Knicks. This action was an imitation of Reggie Miller’s celebration ‘choke’ from game 5 of the same finals in 1994. Miller scored 25 of his 39 points of that game in the fourth quarter. The Pacers at this time had won three games in a row to take the lead in game five but lost the series 4-3.
“Basketball is fun. Winning is fun. I’m so proud of the resilience of this group. … We kept going. Kept fighting,” Haliburton said during a TV interview after the game. “… I thought it was a 3. I tried to hit the celly, and it didn’t work. But we finished it in overtime.”
Game two will be played on 24th May at 3:00 am.
Thunder vs Timberwolves (114-88)
Oklahoma set the bar high in their game 1 appearance of the Western Conference finals against Minnesota by winning with a 34-point margin at home. The team had a bit of a rough start offensively but picked up the pace in the second half. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 of his game-high 31 points in the second half, along with five rebounds, nine assists, and three steals.
Minnesota managed to keep OKC at bay during the first half, going into halftime four points up. The relentless defensive efforts of the OKC gave them the energy they were lacking offensively in the second half. They kept Minnesota superstar Anthony Edwards at bay, where he only scored 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting. Edwards rolled his ankle towards the end of the first half but returned to play the rest of the game, claiming it did not affect his performance.
Game two goes down on 23 May at 3:30 am at Paycom Center, home of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
