On May 7, 1995, Reggie Miller scored eight points in 8.9 seconds to beat the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. For the 25th anniversary of that moment, Reggie shared his memories of the night with Pacers Director of Media Relations David Benner.
"It was a perfect storm."
Twenty-five years later, the center of that perfect storm, Reggie Miller, offered that observation.
Eight points in 8.9 seconds. From down six to ahead by two and an improbable (impossible? Except it happened) 107-105 victory for the Indiana Pacers over the New York Knicks in Game One of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. In New York. In Madison Square Garden. Against the Knicks, a nemesis in the truest sense of the word. Reggie scored all those points in that time frame and today, 25 years later, it remains as one of the all-time great performances, not just in basketball, but in all sports.
"I can't believe it has been 25 years," Reggie said. "It's funny but in today's social media, with Twitter and Instagram or the '30 for 30, Winning Time', you can't forget. I get the video sent to me all the time. Fans, they keep the spirit alive like it just happened recently. And it occurred in the Mecca, Madison Square Garden, New York City, against the Knicks."
And when you see the sequence again and again, and again?
"Now that I've had time to reflect on the moment — when you're in the middle, you're trying to win the game, you obviously don't think about it and the significance doesn't dawn on you. Years later, I can appreciate it. It helps we won the game and the series. Look at it and everything that happened: after the first three, they had to force the inbounds pass, they had no time outs, Greg Anthony slips, he did slip (that's his story, he's sticking to it and we don't disagree), then I hit another three. Then Sam (Mitchell) fouls Starks. He misses two free throws and I get the rebound — see, I could rebound — and I get fouled, make both. They still have a last chance and Anthony slips again and we win."
"It was a perfect storm for us." Then with a laugh, he adds, "not for them, though."