How the Pacers pulled off a comeback never seen before in NBA history

May 22, 2025
How the Pacers pulled off a comeback never seen before in NBA history How the Pacers pulled off a comeback never seen before in NBA history

Game 1 of the 2025 Eastern Conference finals between the Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks will be remembered by basketball fans for a long time after one of the most unbelievable comebacks in NBA history.

New York Knicks fans react to a play in the fourth quarter of Game 1 during a watch party in New York City on Wednesday.Kent J. Edwards / Getty Images

Entering Wednesday night, teams leading by at least 14 points in the final 2:45 of the fourth quarter had been 994-0 since play-by-play tracking began in 1997-98.

After the Knicks’ 138-135 overtime loss to the Pacers, those teams are now 994-1.

Before the comeback could begin, New York first needed to take a substantial lead. Starting when star guard Jalen Brunson went to the bench with his fifth foul, the Knicks somehow pulled off a 14-0 run to go up 108-92 with 7 minutes and 24 seconds to go.

That run was punctuated by a peak New York sequence: a rugged defensive stop leading to a layup on the other end.

The Indiana comeback truly began in earnest with 4:45 left on the clock — that was when guard Aaron Nesmith hit his first 3-pointer of the quarter to cut the lead to 113-101.

After the teams traded buckets, Nesmith hit another three with 3:14 to go, only for Brunson and Tyrese Haliburton to trade long balls on the next two possessions.

With 2:04 left in regulation, Nesmith hit his third 3-ball of the quarter to make it a 119-111 game.

Nesmith was far from finished. After a Pascal Siakam free throw and a Brunson layup, Nesmith connected again from deep to make it 121-115 with 51 seconds to go.

The Knicks got a little breathing room with a Karl-Anthony Towns hook shot, except by this point Nesmith was on another plane of existence, and hit his fifth-straight 3-pointer to make it a 5-point game with 34 seconds to go.

At this point, you would expect New York to let literally anybody else on the Pacers shoot. But after a turnover on the ensuing Knicks possession, Nesmith shook loose — thanks in part to a Josh Hart stumble — for his sixth deep shot of the fourth, making it 123-121 with 22.1 seconds to go.

The next 15 seconds of the game turned into a free-throw contest, one that New York lost. On the next three possessions, the Knicks went 2-of-4 from the foul line while Indiana went 2-of-2. (Guess who hit the pressure free throws? Nesmith!)

That meant, with roughly seven seconds to go, the Pacers only trailed 125-123, and that set up this absolutely bonkers shot by Haliburton — who tried to win the game with a three, only for his toe to be on the line.

New York still had the mental fortitude to take an early lead in overtime, opening up a 4-point advantage with a little over three minutes to go. That deficit was nothing for the Pacers, though, who immediately stormed back yet again.

The defining stretch came in the final minute of overtime, when Indy twice trailed by 1, but both times scored after beautiful ball movement.

After a lay-in by Andrew Nembhard made it 136-135 with 26.7 seconds to go, the Knicks couldn’t score on either of their last two possessions, and the Pacers escaped with a first-of-its-kind comeback.

byWeb Desk
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