Tyrese Haliburton embraced his role as the heel twice last year at MSG, both when the Pacers knocked out the Knicks in seven games in the second round of the playoffs and over the summer in a clash with Jalen Brunson at a WWE event. 

Haliburton’s level of hatred from the Garden crowd doesn’t yet match the wrath the New York fans felt for Indiana predecessor Reggie Miller back in the ’90s, but it’s getting closer with the Pacers providing some heartbreak for the Knicks in the playoffs for the second straight year, the latest being Wednesday night’s furious comeback win in Game 1 of the conference finals. 

Haliuburton heard a few chants of “overrated” from the crowd, but he nailed the game-tying shot with his foot on the 3-point arc at the regulation buzzer before the Pacers pulled out a 138-135 overtime victory.

He even directed a Miller-esque choke sign at the Garden crowd when he thought he’d won the game before a replay review determined his foot was on the line. 

“Everybody wanted me to do it last year at some different point, but it’s gotta feel right. It felt right at the time, but if I would’ve known it was a 2, I would not have done it,” Haliburton said afterward. “I might have wasted it.” 

It was the Knicks who wasted a double-digit lead after coming back from three of those in the previous series against the Celtics. 

Haliburton finished with 31 points — 12 fewer than Brunson’s 43 — while also recording 11 assists. 

“Tyrese has earned the right to do whatever he wants,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said of the choking gesture. “But this fan base is difficult enough to deal with without getting into a lot of unnecessary words. We have great respect for these guys.” 

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The two-time All-Star point guard averaged 21.3 points and 7.0 assists in the second-round series against the Knicks last year, and he renewed his friendly rivalry with Brunson for a chance to reach the NBA Finals. 

The two guards are close after being teammates on Team USA at the FIBA World Cup in 2023, although only Haliburton was named to the U.S. Olympic team last summer. 

They also both participated in the WWE event at the Garden last June, with Brunson chasing Haliburton out of the ring with a folding chair.

Haliburton responded, “I’ll be back” and “you don’t want to see me again.” 

Now, both Haliburton and Brunson are looking to help their respective teams end lengthy droughts without reaching the NBA Finals. 

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Haliburton only managed four points in the first quarter, but the Pacers nailed their first eight FG attempts and 10-of-11.

He scored seven straight Indiana points at one point of the second, and 10 overall in the quarter, but the Knicks led 69-62 at the half. 

And he showed in the second half that he’s fully capable of a Miller-esque moment. 

“I’ve seen that ‘Winning Time’ doc probably like 50 times growing up, so I know [the Pacers] didn’t win the series,” Haliburton said, referring to a series loss to the Knicks in the 1994 ECF. “So I would not like to repeat that. But I think that was a historic moment, and that obviously was more [Miller] vs. Spike [Lee], kind of a one-on-one. And [mine] just felt like it was to everybody. 

“But I think it’s really cool to make my own history and for this group to make our own history, while also showing respect and love to those who came before us.”