NBA
Hollywood star’s hilarious reaction after miracle shot in crazy Playoffs finish
A miracle three-pointer from Indiana’s Andrew Nembhard delivered the Pacers a much-needed win over the New York Knicks in game three of the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
Down 2-0 in the series and down as many as 10 points in the fourth quarter, the Pacers fought back to lead late in the piece, before a Jalen Brunson triple tied the points with 41.1 seconds to play.
Tyrese Haliburton missed a three and then was closely double-teamed as he regained possession. He passed to Nembhard, who had been ice-cold in shooting all night.
But with the shot clock expiring and under defensive pressure, Nembhard launched a hail mary from 31 feet that somehow went in – with even his teammates and Nembhard himself looking stunned.
It was the longest made three of his career, and just his third of the series.
“I probably held the ball a little too long, I should have been more aggressive,” Haliburton said. “I put (Nembhard) in kind of a bad situation and he just made an unbelievable shot — big, big shot.
“He really stepped up to the moment when we needed him most.”
Watch the best of the NBA Conference Semi Finals LIVE on ESPN, available via Kayo. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial Today >
Pacers on the board against the Knicks! | 00:55
Brunson failed to find the basket with a desperate three-pointer of his own before the Pacers held on to reduce their series deficit to 2-1 on their return to home court.
“Everybody knows what it looks like when you go down 3-0,” Haliburton said, a nod to the fact that no NBA team has rallied from that deficit to win a playoff series.
“We had to come out play desperate, play hard,” added Haliburton, whose Pacers will now try to level the series at home on Sunday.
Nembhard finished with just five points on two-of-eight shooting – but his three-pointer at the death meant his awful game up to that point was immediately forgotten.
Teammate Tyrese Haliburton led the way with 35 points on 14-of-26 shooting and added seven assists. Myles Turner had 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Pascal Siakam had 26 points and seven boards.
Donte DiVicenzo matched Haliburton with 35 points of his own for the Knicks with a remarkable 7-of-11 from three-point range, while Brunson had 26 points. Josh Hart had 10 points and 18 rebounds.
Hollywood star and Knicks fanatic Ben Stiller had a hilarious response to the gutting defeat.
First, he tweeted: “We won’t cry.” Then when a fan responded with a picture of him crying – from one of his many films – Stiller replied: “Ok maybe a little”.
The move to Indianapolis — and the determination to avoid falling into an 0-3 hole — clearly energized the Pacers, who kept the banged-up Knicks in check early.
Haliburton had six of the Pacers’ 12 three-pointers.
The Knicks, already missing Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanovic, were also without OG Anunoby after he suffered a hamstring strain in their game two victory.
Knicks star Jalen Brunson, who wasn’t confirmed to start until after pre-game warm-ups after hurting his right foot on Wednesday, got off to a slow start, but New York briefly pulled ahead in the second quarter — foreshadowing a third-quarter surge that saw them take a 90-85 lead into the final period.
But the Knicks couldn’t hang on and the Pacers will try to level the series at home on Sunday.
Friday’s other game saw the Minnesota Timberwolves trying to push the defending champion Denver Nuggets to the brink as they hosted game three of their Western Conference semi-final.
Minnesota, who dominated the Nuggets in winning the first two games in Denver, were bolstered by the return of Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, who missed game two because of the birth of his first child.