Reggie Miller's Immediate Reaction to Tyrese Haliburton's Choke Sign vs. Knicks
Tyrese Haliburton appears well on his way to establishing himself as the new public enemy No. 1 for New York Knicks fans.
On Wednesday night, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals at Madison Square Garden, Haliburton knocked down an incredible shot in regulation to force overtime in a hotly contested matchup.
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Haliburton almost won the game with his shot. He stepped on the 3-point line, though, which led the referees to rule out what would have been a game-winning trey at the buzzer.
Pacers legend Reggie Miller was on the call for TNT for Game 1, and the Hall of Famer had the perfect reaction to Haliburton's clutch heroics — especially after the Indiana guard busted out Miller's infamous choke sign celebration after he hit his shot.
All Miller could do was laugh after watching Haliburton's shot hit the bottom of the net. His co-commentator Stan Van Gundy brought up Haliburton's homage with the choke signal, which prompted another sly laugh from the NBA shooting legend.
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Miller then uttered a one-word reaction. "Wow," he said.
Fans at MSG on Wednesday night must have had flashbacks to when Miller first made the choking gesture against the Knicks more than three decades ago.
Haliburton and the Pacers would escape with a 138-135 victory in the extra period after going down by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter.
Indiana is now 1-0 up in this series, and Haliburton will be looking to keep his foot on the gas when these two teams face off again on Friday for Game 2.
Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton had 31 points against the New York Knicks in Game 1.© Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Right now, the Pacers are just three wins away from booking their spot in the NBA Finals for the first time in 25 years.
Related: NBA Shooting Legend Reggie Miller Facing Backlash During Game 1 of Knicks-Pacers
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Los Angeles Times
20 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
The Sports Report: Max Muncy, Tanner Scott are key to Dodgers' victory
From Jack Harris: It was a night of redemption at Dodger Stadium. For the struggling home team, its recently beleaguered closer and its enigmatic third baseman most of all. In a 6-5 win against the New York Mets on Tuesday, Max Muncy atoned for a costly fifth-inning error with a two-home run performance, including a game-tying blast in the bottom of the ninth. Left-hander Tanner Scott snapped out of his recent funk, throwing a scoreless 10th inning a night after taking a loss in the same situation. And after two consecutive frustrating defeats, the Dodgers finally bounced back on Freddie Freeman's walk-off double in the bottom of the 10th; earning a win that kept them in sole possession of first place in the National League West, and chased a few demons for both Scott and Muncy in the process. 'We needed every bit of it,' manager Dave Roberts said. 'It's good to see the resilience from a lot of our guys.' Continue reading here Dodgers star Freddie Freeman's family appreciated kind gesture from slain Baldwin Park officer Shigeo Nagashima, Japanese baseball legend with ties to the Dodgers, dies at 89 Judge orders woman who accused ex-Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer of sexual assault to pay damages by default Dodgers box score MLB scores MLB standings All Times Pacific NBA FINALS Oklahoma City vs. Indiana Thursday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABCSunday at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABCWed., June 11 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABCFriday, June 13 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABCMonday, June 16 at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC*Thursday, June 19 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC*Sunday, June 22 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC* *if necessary Automatic runner Zach Neto scored on Taylor Ward's bases-loaded double-play groundout to lift the Angels to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox in 10 innings on Tuesday night. 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If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you'd like to see, email me at To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Time Magazine
43 minutes ago
- Time Magazine
Little Hoops on the Prairie: Why the Thunder-Pacers Finals Are Worth Watching
Almost immediately after the Indiana Pacers beat the New York Knicks on Saturday night to clinch the 2025 Eastern Conference championship, the jokes, memes, and hand-wringing about the small-market profile of the upcoming Indiana-Oklahama City Thunder NBA Finals, which tip off on June 5, began. On social media, NBA commissioner Adam Silver—given the presumed low ratings that await Pacers (who play in the 25th-biggest TV market in the U.S.) and the Thunder (47th)—was depicted as Ron Burgundy going berserk, an exasperated LeBron James, and a hysterical Andy Samberg yelling, 'I need to go to my quiet place!' Shall we call this series Little Hoops on the Prairie? Headlines breathlessly wondered 'How a small-market NBA Finals affects the league's bottom line,' and 'Does the NBA have a market size problem?' Some so-called fans have already labeled the 2025 finals boring, which is a funny way to characterize games that haven't even started yet. Yes, according to CBS Sports, you'd have to go back to the 1971 Milwaukee Bucks-Baltimore Bullets final to find a pair of teams from outside the top-20 markets meeting in the championship round. And this is the first finals matchup involving two teams who don't pay a luxury tax, a measure instituted in 2002 that penalizes teams financially for spending above a set threshold. So the small-market pairing will be the dominant theme of these finals. Prepare to hear about it ad nauseum. But why should the number of people in the cities of Indianapolis and Oklahoma City have any bearing on whether or not to watch basketball games? For a viewer in Dallas or Dubuque—or even the recently vanquished cities of New York or Minneapolis —'Indiana' and 'Oklahoma City' should be mere letters on a jersey, not some sort of cloud over the NBA's title round. Because if you look past market size, there's lots to love about this duel. Let's start with the Thunder. Oklahoma City sneakily turned in one of the best regular seasons in the history of hoops. The Thunder won 68 regular-season games; only six other teams have won that many, or more, in a season. With an average age of 25.6 years, Oklahoma City is the second-youngest team in 70 years to reach the finals: the champion 1976-77 Portland Trail Blazers, led by the late, great Bill Walton, were younger (25.03 years). OKC's a model in team building. The Thunder acquired Shai Gilgeous-Alexander—the 2025 NBA MVP known as SGA—from the Los Angeles Clippers, for All-Star forward Paul George, in 2019, following SGA's rookie season. Oklahoma City also received five first-round draft choices in that deal, and turned one of them into Jalen Williams, who was selected 12th overall in the 2022 draft, out of Santa Clara. The versatile and electric Williams reached his first All-Star game this year. Williams and Chet Holmgren, the 7-ft. 1-in. unicorn taken second overall in that '22 draft, amplify SGA's greatness: defenses can't afford to just focus on stopping the shifty superstar. This young, hungry Big Three (SGA is 26, Williams, 24, Holmgren, 23) gives off dynasty vibes. (The trio has also joined forces for an AT&T commercial —in which they accidentally wear matching outfits to some sort of glitzy appearance—that's been in steady rotation all playoffs long.) Thunder GM Sam Presti signed big man Isaiah Hartenstein to a free-agent deal this offseason to fortify the front line and traded for Alex Caruso, one of the toughest defensive guards in the NBA. These two players have blended in with Thunder's tight-knit crew: a group of supporting players usually surrounds the star of the game during postgame interviews, adding antics to a usually dreary affair. The Pacers have similarly built their roster through the clever use of team assets. Just like Gilgeous-Alexander, after a promising start to his career elsewhere, Indiana point guard Tyrese Haliburton was traded to his current team for an established All-Star. In a multiplayer deal during the 2022 campaign—Haliburton's second NBA season—the Sacramento Kings sent Haliburton to Indiana and got back big man Domantas Sabonis. Haliburton led the NBA in assists last season, made the U.S. Olympic team, and ahead of the 2024 trade deadline got the running mate he needed to compete for a championship: Indiana gave up three role players and a few draft picks to acquire Toronto Raptors All-Star Pascal Siakam, who won a title up north in 2019. At his best the rangy Siakam, the Eastern Conference Finals MVP against the Knicks, calls to mind a slightly smaller Kevin Durant. The Pacers traded for Aaron Nesmith, the former Boston Celtic who killed the Knicks in Indiana's Game 1 miracle comeback in the Eastern Conference Finals, after the 2022 season. The Pacers drafted its dual-threat big, Myles Turner, in 2015, and loaded up on a seemingly endless parade of role players—Andrew Nembhard, Obi Toppin, Bennedict Mathurin, Ben Sheppard, T.J. McConnell, Thomas Bryant, and more—through smart draft choices, trades, and free-agent signings. Indiana is a deep and athletic squad, and shares the ball with abandon. When Indiana is clicking, they're a joy to watch. So is OKC. Get used to less glitzy teams, like Indiana and OKC, succeeding. Unlike the Miami Heat, with James and Chris Bosh in the 2010s, or the Golden State Warriors with Kevin Durant prior to winning the 2017 and 2018 titles, or the Los Angeles Lakers with James during their 2020 title run, neither the Pacers nor Thunder have signed superstars in free agency. In fact, recent changes within the NBA's collective-bargaining agreement make it more difficult for big-spending, big-market teams to stockpile free agents and make trades. The NBA will crown its seventh different champion in seven years this June. The league's parity era is already here and won't go anywhere fast. And isn't this a better outcome than we see in, say, baseball, where teams in New York, Los Angeles, and other bigger cities can just spend, spend, spend to acquire superstars? "I think it's a new blueprint for the league, man," Turner said after Indiana's Game 6 victory over New York. "I think the years of the superteams and stacking, it's not as effective as it once was. Since I've been in the league, this NBA is very trendy. It just shifts. But the new trend now is just kind of what we're doing. OKC does the same thing. Young guys, get out and run, defend. And, you know, use the power of friendship is how they call it." A bunch of buddies bonding to win a championship? The potential of SGA and Haliburton going at it, like Magic Johnson/Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant/Allen Iverson, LeBron James/Steph Curry, and other great finals pairings of the past?
New York Times
44 minutes ago
- New York Times
Quote machine Paul Maurice returns to the Stanley Cup Final, drawing more eyes than ever
EDMONTON — In front of a black Stanley Cup Final backdrop and flanked by the Conn Smythe Trophy on his left and the Stanley Cup on his right, Paul Maurice sat down next to his general manager in front of the cameras Tuesday afternoon for the first of what could be 25 times if this 18-day Stanley Cup Final rematch goes the distance. Advertisement Maurice has spent 27 seasons as an NHL head coach. The once-youngest coach in NHL history, who still looks way younger than his 58 years, is quite comfortable in his own skin and sure does a good job making life easy for reporters who need to churn out stories in the playoffs. But as the Florida Panthers coach has quipped on more than one occasion, the attention can sometimes make him feel 'f—ing overexposed.' Most hockey fans probably find him funny and entertaining. Some, after seeing him on TV so often and hearing his endless soundbites during these past three long playoff runs by Florida, may be growing tired of him. Well, guess what? Maurice will continue to be performative behind a mic, so get used to him again, because there's bound to be many more viral 'Mo' moments as the Panthers play hockey in June for a third year in a row. Bill Zito and Paul Maurice pre-series presser — Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) June 3, 2025 The latest? In the Eastern Conference final, Maurice made waves by trying to educate everybody, including surprised Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour, on why it's time coaches stay out of the end-of-series handshake line. The next? There are bound to be one-liners, barbs, self-deprecating jokes, eloquent history lessons, lectures and, occasionally, profanity during this Stanley Cup Final rematch against the Edmonton Oilers. But while cynics may say it's all for show, Maurice does a great job selling the game, especially in South Florida, and certainly nobody can argue with his incredible success. Next season, he'll be behind the bench for his 2,000th regular-season game. He's only 210 games behind Scotty Bowman's record 2,141. He's only 84 wins from 1,000. And after taking Florida to the Stanley Cup Final during his first year as its coach, 2022-23, and winning the Cup in his second, Maurice enters this third straight Cup Final no longer having to hear how he's coached the most games in NHL history without winning the Stanley Cup. Advertisement He's been there, done that now. 'I couldn't articulate very well the experience of last year or the unknown of it prior,' Maurice said Tuesday. 'And then it happens, and you have this incredible experience with a group of guys that you care so much about, and then they come back next year. So, God, you want to do it again, right? Like it's such a wonderful thing.' The only coaches in NHL history who have made the Stanley Cup Final in each of their first three or more seasons with a franchise are Toe Blake (five with the Montreal Canadiens from 1956 to 1960), Bowman (three with the St. Louis Blues from 1968 to 1970), Tommy Ivan (three with the Detroit Red Wings from 1948 to 1950) and now Maurice. If Maurice coaches the Panthers to a second straight championship, he'll be the only coach in NHL history to win 11 series in his first three seasons with a franchise. What does Maurice think about all that? 'Nobody cares,' Maurice said. In other words, it's not about him, even if he's the one often center stage. 'I've got a really good bunch of men in that room, and I've had more fun in the last three years and I've learned more about life and hockey in the last three years from these players than I could ever possibly imagined,' Maurice said. 'It has been life-altering working with these men. And I'm specific with my words. There's no hyperbole to it. It has absolutely been life-altering coming to the rink working with these men.' Mic'd up Paul is a national treasure🤣 — x – Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) May 30, 2025 Say what you want about Maurice — he can put together a sentence. Over the years, he has treated reporters with more and more respect, something he explained last year is in part because his son Jake has gotten into play-by-play. 'You lose enough hockey games, you lose the arrogance that you're special and your job's special,' he said last postseason. 'We all have a job to do at the end of the day, and I know sometimes, especially in a seven-day block, you're grinding. But I get it way better now than I did before. This doesn't have to be an adversarial relationship.' Advertisement So Maurice can crack jokes, like when he called the last two goals Sergei Bobrovsky gave up in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final 'horses—' even though the punchline was they were empty-netters. He can give great analogies, like saying the same person can 'say a prayer' and 'shotgun a beer in church,' similar to how the Panthers can be so nice and humble off the ice and such a brash bunch of bullies on it. And he can rip himself to shreds, like when he jabs himself for allegedly being out of shape or reminds that he took over a Presidents' Trophy-winning, 122-point team from 2021-22 and 'just shaved 30 points off with high quality of coaching' in 2022-23. 'Sometimes you say a prayer, sometimes you shotgun a beer. That's kind of like our team.' Paul Maurice has an all-time analogy for the Panthers' personalities. 😆 — Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 26, 2025 As many accolades as he gets, Maurice will quickly retort that his players are the real drivers and he simply tries 'not to mess it up.' 'This is the best team I've ever coached. It's not really that close,' Maurice insisted while trying to be respectful to his 26 previous rosters, including the two that he recently guided to the fourth round of the playoffs. But his players say similar things about him and say he deserves every ounce of credit for helping take this once-sorry franchise to new heights. 'He's the best motivator that I've ever played for,' veteran center Sam Bennett said. 'His pregame speeches and just knowing when to fire us up, when to calm us down, his game plans, you know, there's a reason why he's a world-class coach. He's certainly the best coach I've ever had.' 'He's charismatic. He's a coach we trust and believe in,' veteran defenseman Aaron Ekblad added. 'He's good at making people laugh. He does the same thing to us. His delivery is incredible — from a motivation speech to a joke to a story 30 years ago, it's to-a-T perfect every time.' From afar, Brad Marchand doesn't pay attention to opposing coaches. He's got enough beefs dealing with opposing players. When he played for the Boston Bruins, Marchand always knew Maurice was a good coach and his teams were always been hard to play against. Advertisement 'But once I got here, I got a completely new appreciation for him as a coach,' Marchand said. 'Most coaches are great, but he's a great person. Very easy to talk to, but an incredible coach the way he can articulate what he wants to get across — his messaging, speeches before games, the way he can deliver to the group the changes that we need to make.' Now, Maurice doesn't always connect with his words perfectly. One moment that probably didn't come across the way Maurice intended was at the end of the Eastern Conference final. Seconds after Brind'Amour's season came to an end last week, Maurice awkwardly surprised the Carolina Hurricanes coach with a request to leave the handshake line to the players. Maurice, of course, has walked through several in his career, so even though he no longer feels it's the coach's place to go through the line, many critics wondered why it's his place to try to convince others to adhere to his newfound belief. He apparently prearranged with Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube in the second round that they should skip the line, so Maurice could have had the same conversation with Brind'Amour during the pre-series NHL call that included both GMs. He instead chose right after Carolina's second third-round loss to Florida in three years to broach the subject with his counterpart. The timing was, let's just say, less than ideal. Paul Maurice and Rod Brind'Amour had a long convo during handshakes — B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 29, 2025 Brind'Amour, who played 1,484 regular-season games and another 159 in the playoffs, told reporters in Raleigh, N.C., on Tuesday that he understood Maurice's point of view but 'wasn't expecting it.' 'Those guys are the ones that are battling out there, and we're just sitting back there, not along for the ride,' Brind'Amour said. 'We invested a ton into it, so I get his point, that it is about the players. I guess my take now, sitting back on it in reflection, I look at, talk about gracious losing. I've had some pretty impactful memories and moments in that line as a coach going through. Advertisement 'So it meant something to me to go through there and shake their hand. For me, it's not thinking about a TV moment. … So I think moving forward, I think I'll probably go back to it just because it's a sign of respect. That's the way I look at it. We're not out there on the ice battling, but we're right in there with these guys, and so that's my take. I think you're entitled to whatever one he wants. 'So I went, 'OK, I'm going to follow your lead in that.' But I do think it's important, to me anyway, to show respect to the players.' Maurice traveled to Edmonton with his team Tuesday morning with his game face on. He's here to win the Stanley Cup again against a formidable opponent that, just like this year's Panthers, is arguably better than last year's version of the Oilers, who nearly completed an improbable comeback from down 3-0 to take the Panthers to Game 7. Like his players, Maurice's celebration with his staff after winning a third straight Prince of Wales Trophy was muted. 'The first year was an incredible accomplishment, making the playoffs and then to get there, so there was an emotional cost almost to the celebration,' Maurice said. 'Then we had a long stretch. You had a bunch of guys beat up. This year was just a part of the path. It was a gate that you had to walk through. So when it was over the next day, it felt like a normal playoff day for us. There wasn't talking about the achievement. You're excited about it, it's something that you'll look back on and say, 'That was pretty good,' but nobody's burning energy off the excitement, right? 'Having some experience over the last three years, this allows you to conserve some energy, not spend it on the emotion of winning a conference championship, which is a great thing, but it's not what we're here for.' And that is why Maurice says it's been life-altering to coach this team. Advertisement 'It's been an honor to kind of be in that room and watch the way they treat each other and learn that you can have that as part of your day,' he said. 'They love each other. The way they treat each other. What they do for each other. That changes the way you feel coming to the rink as the head coach. Just do stuff for them, want to help them. It's their thing. I'm a bit of an observer here, bit of a season-ticket holder. I get to watch it and enjoy it and have fun with it, but I've learned so much from them about what a pro room could be if everybody cared about each other, if they were selfless, and that's my experience with these guys.' (Photo of Paul Maurice and Bill Zito: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
