MSG turned into a 4th-quarter fever dream, and Indiana was the team that woke up with the dub.
Date: May 21, 2025
Location: Madison Square Garden, aka Basketball’s Loudest Living Room™
Final Score: Pacers 138, Knicks 135
Well. That escalated quickly.
Game 1 between the Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks didn’t just flirt with chaos — it took it out for dinner, proposed, and eloped in Vegas. The final score? 138-135. And that wasn’t a typo. That was a defense-optional classic that felt more like a Summer League All-Star game… if Summer League had way more pressure and way better memes.
Tyrese Haliburton was on some next-level wizardry, racking up buckets and assists like he’s speed-running a video game. Every time Knicks fans thought they were safe? BAM. Haliburton, corner three. BOOM. Isaiah Jackson block party. SMACK. Andrew Nembhard with the “how-did-he-do-that” floater.
The Knicks? They didn’t go down easy. Jalen Brunson was out there playing like he had a vendetta against rims, putting up 40+ and trying to personally carry NYC to the promised land. But in the end, the Pacers made just one more play when it mattered. And that play looked like it was forged in chaos and delivered by Amazon Prime.
MSG was rocking. The Knicks were rolling. But Indiana straight-up hijacked the party, took the aux cord, and dropped Game 1 like it was their mixtape release.
Don’t blink, folks. This series? Already a classic.
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