Four months have passed since Tyrese Haliburton’s incredible shot in Game 1 of the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals. Yet it was so memorable that it remains a topic of conversation. After Haliburton connected on the miraculous jump shot, he signalled a choke gesture, an ode to Indiana Pacers legend Reggie Miller. Now, Haliburton speaks with the man the Miller gesture was pointed at – Spike Lee, who also voices his true opinion on what happened.
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Spike Lee has become synonymous with the New York Knicks, maybe even more than his films. During every big Knicks game, Lee can be found on the sidelines supporting his team. But due to his fame and status, Lee has become an easy target for opposing players, especially in Madison Square Garden.
Lee has been in numerous iconic moments, with the biggest coming 30 years ago. The Knicks were on pace to snag a 1-0 lead over the Indiana Pacers in the semifinals of the 1995 NBA playoffs. However, Reggie Miller rewrote history by scoring 8 points in 9 seconds to stun Lee and the Knicks. He proceeded to press on the wound by directing a choke gesture to Spike Lee.
Plenty of years have passed since, and the two have settled things. But it seems that Haliburton’s revival with his rendition against the Knicks resurrected a moment from history that Lee thought was dead.
“It was squashed!” Lee proclaimed on The Young Man and The Three. “Me and Reggie have nothing but love. And you brought back hate.”
Of course, Lee’s words were playful. They were able to join together in laughter while reminiscing on Haliburton’s incredible shot. The Pacers star defended himself by stating, “It’s only because Reggie was in the building.” Unfortunately, Lee wasn’t having any of it.
Haliburton attempted to ease Lee’s pain by saying, “That’s going to be a thing forever, though. 40-50 years from now, there’s going to be another Pacers-Knicks series and somebody else is going to bring it back.” Haliburton may have a point; history does tend to repeat itself.
Lee couldn’t get himself to be on the same page as Haliburton, but the two would agree to speak about their thoughts on the game as a whole.
Spike Lee was beside himself during the Knicks’ meltdown
Throughout the course of Game 1, the Knicks were the team in control, even leading by as much as 17 points. With 2:39 left in the game, ESPN’s win probability had the Knicks’ odds of winning the game at 99.3%. Unfortunately for them, Aaron Nesmith didn’t have this information.
As the final 5 minutes of the game came into being, Nesmith put his foot on the pedal, connecting on six three-pointers. Before that game, Nesmith only eclipsed the 20-point mark once in the postseason. He would finish the game with 30 points on nearly 70% shooting from the field. Lee couldn’t believe what he was seeing take place on the court.
“Put somebody on this m*********! How has he hit six threes in a row!” Lee proclaimed. Weirdly, Haliburton was a bit clueless about what he had just seen transpire.
“I didn’t even realize until the game got done. I was like, ‘He didn’t miss?’ It was ridiculous,” Haliburton exclaimed. If he had known the degree of Nesmith’s rhythm, perhaps, he could’ve looked for him to take the final shot of regulation. It may have resulted in a different ending and robbed the basketball world of one of the greatest playoff moments of all time.
