The New York Knicks are in trouble in the Eastern Conference finals, having lost home-court advantage to the Indiana Pacers after dropping the first two games of the series at Madison Square Garden. The series now shifts to Indiana, where the Pacers have lost only one playoff game.
The Knicks’ situation looks grim, but superfan Ben Stiller says he’s still keeping faith in his team.
Ben Stiller Sends Message After Knicks’ Game 2 Loss
After the Knicks lost Game 2 at home, the actor and filmmaker sent a four-word message in response to the team’s deficit.
“Series is not over,” Stiller wrote via his X account.
Series is not over
— Ben Stiller (@BenStiller)
Being down 2-0 is discouraging, but teams have come back from that deficit before. Of the 465 times a playoff series has started with one team up 2-0, 34 teams have come back to win the series.
One of those teams was the Pacers, who overcame a 2-0 deficit against the Knicks in last year’s Eastern Conference semifinals. As painful as that might be for New York fans, the point is that it’s possible — and it’s happened before.
The Knicks were also once part of that rare group, rallying from a 2-0 hole to defeat the Boston Celtics in the first round of the 1990 NBA playoffs.
Both of the Knicks’ losses in this series were close. The Pacers took Game 1 behind Aaron Nesmith’s clutch barrage from beyond the arc in the final minutes, wiping out a 17-point hole and sealing the win in overtime. That game included a signature moment from Tyrese Haliburton, who hit a game-tying field goal in crunch time and celebrated with Reggie Miller’s iconic choke gesture.
In Game 2, Pascal Siakam took over with a 39-point explosion, while five other Pacers scored in double figures.
Jalen Brunson has been a driving force for the Knicks, and they’ll need him to keep delivering. He poured in 43 points in Game 1 and followed it up with 36 in Game 2. Karl-Anthony Towns posted 35 in the opener and 20 in Game 2, but was benched late in the second game, finishing with a game-worst minus-20 rating.
The NBA playoffs have delivered some of the most chaotic and unforgettable moments in league history. The Knicks themselves have ridden that wave — erasing a pair of 20-point deficits to grab two comeback wins over the Celtics in their Round 2 series, which they won in six games.
Though trailing 2-0 is far from ideal, the Knicks have exuded confidence on the road and now face a must-win scenario with their season hanging by a thread.
