According to Keerthika Uthayakumar, NBA teams were 0-970 when down by 14 or more points in the final 2:50 of regulation in the playoffs over the last 27 postseasons. Because the Pacers completed the comeback in overtime to steal Game 1 in Madison Square Garden,

The Knicks went on a surge in the second quarter to take a seven-point lead at halftime. In fact, they scored 69 points and shot 51% from the field and 42.1% from 3-point range while three of their players scored at least a dozen points.

Still, because Haliburton's foot was on the line, the Knicks could avoid making history if they could recover in overtime. Instead, it was much of the same as the Pacers kept rolling, with Andrew Nembhard doing most of the damage with seven points in the extra period.