The New York Knicks came up short in their home Game 7 playoff matchup against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday afternoon. And former Pacers star turned TNT game analyst Reggie Miller naturally had plenty to say about the resounding victory for his former team.
Miller’s rivalry with the Knicks organization dates all the way back to his playing days, famously throwing up the “choke pose” in Game 5 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Finals against New York after scoring 25 points in the fourth quarter of the game to give the Pacers a 3-2 series lead.
Famously, this would come back to bite Miller, as the Knicks actually went on to win the series in seven games to advance to the NBA Finals against the Houston Rockets.
Miller may not have had his fairytale ending against the Knicks as a player. But he did get a bit of revenge on Sunday when his Pacers pulled off the comeback in their series against New York to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
If you are a Knicks fan, you have to feel like the series has a bit of an asterisk to it. The team dealt with some significant injuries to the likes of Mitchell Robinson, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart that seemingly played a big factor.
That’s not even mentioning the injury to Julius Randle before the start of the postseason, or the fact that Jalen Brunson didn’t play in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game after fracturing his hand.
All in all, you certainly have to wonder whether this series could have potentially gone differently for New York if they hadn’t had all these obstacles.
But Reggie Miller is seemingly not concerned about that narrative whatsoever. He took to Instagram to tell the Knicks that they can “rest up in Cancun” now that they are eliminated from the playoffs.
“When the series changed!!!” wrote Miller on Instagram, referring to an interaction with Knicks star Josh Hart during the series while he was calling Game 2 of the series. “Jalen Brunson, you are a true BALLER, been the best player in these playoffs, but you and your boys can all heal together on some beautiful beaches in Cancun, please enjoy!!”
Reggie Miller from the top rope. https://t.co/eulpr88Vbx
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 19, 2024
For those unaware of what Miller is referring to regarding Hart, Knicks fans were obviously not all that happy that Miller was on the call of their Game 2 matchup. Josh Hart walked up to Miller during the game and told him what the fans in attendance were very clearly chanting at him.
“I don’t know if you heard, but I think they’re saying, ‘**** you,’” Hart told Miller.
Josh Hart to Reggie Miller: “I don’t know if you heard but I think they’re saying, ‘Fuck you.'” pic.twitter.com/Cl4c9mWyNP
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 9, 2024
It’s pretty safe to say that Miller got the last laugh in terms of this incident with Josh Hart. Perhaps the only way things could have been even sweeter for him would have been if he were on the call of the game. But instead, he and TNT received the assignment for the Game 7 matchup between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night.
