The New York Knicks may have been focused on the Indiana Pacers that were on the floor Wednesday in Game 2 of their second-round series, but their fans had their eyes set on a different Pacer who happened to be at Madison Square Garden for the playoff battle. That would be Reggie Miller, longtime Indiana sharpshooter/Knicks antagonist and current TNT broadcaster.
Miller has primarily worked the Western Conference series between the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves thus far in the second round, but with those two teams off on Wednesday, Miller made the trip to New York to watch his former team face its nemesis.
On the broadcast, Miller was largely complimentary of the Knicks and their fans. Those same fans were having none of it. As the game drew to a close with a Knicks victory — their second of the series as they now held a 2-0 lead — those New York fans serenaded Miller with chants of “f— you Reggie!”
In case you can’t tell what they’re saying, Knicks wing Josh Hart came over to Miller and was caught giving him a playful jab by the TNT cameras. “I don’t know if you heard but I think they’re saying, ‘f— you,’ https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1788397923278926271. After the game, Hart https://twitter.com/outsidethenba/status/1788405649774158144 that he “just wanted to make sure he heard what the fans were saying.”
Miller is responsible for quite a bit of Knicks heartbreak over the years. The Pacers put the Knicks in the playoffs six times during Miller’s career, and the two sides split those series three pieces. Most famously, Miller scored eight points in nine seconds to lead the Pacers to a stunning 107-105 victory in Game 1 of their 1995 series. That legendary performance was the difference in the series, as the Pacers won Game 7 and the series to give Miller his first series win over New York.
Similar chants can be heard during any Knicks playoff series at Madison Square Garden, with the target changing depending on the opponent. Trae Young and Joel Embiid are recent recipients, but there has never been a Knicks villain quite as loathed in New York as Miller. This was a monumental win for the Knicks, but having Miller in the building made it all the sweeter for their fans.
