Don't get fooled by what people say, Reggie Miller wasn't that great vs the Knicks in the playoffs. |
In last year's amazing 30 for 30 documentary series by ESPN, there was a film titled "Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the New York Knicks." It pretty much highlighted Reggie Miller's epic moments vs the Knicks in the 1990s. However, it also clouded what actually happened during the 90s and 2000s between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks. In fact it changed the perspective of many people who now believe that the Indiana Pacers dominated the Knicks during that decade. That is far from the truth.
The most famous moment in Reggie Miller's career vs the Knicks actually came in a series in which Miller lost. The Knicks answered to "the choke game" in 1994 by winning back-to-back games to take the series. So if you take that into account, that game didn't even matter. Miller did finally break through a year later to take his first series from the Knicks in '95, and if it wasn't for an unfortunate Knicks roll, they would have lost that series as well. All-in-all, Reggie Miller met the Knicks six times in the playoffs, winning three series and losing three. Miller also only won 1 of 3 Eastern Conference Finals vs the Knicks. I'm not taking anything away from Reggie Miller though, he was certainly a villain to all Knicks fans. A guy that Knicks fans will never ever like. However, let's take this whole "Reggie was a Knicks killer" phenomena down a notch. Miller was mediocre vs. the Knicks. His "choke" moment could be considered just as special as Larry Johnson's 4-point play that helped send the Knicks into the '99 NBA Finals over Miller's Pacers.
If we want to talk about "Knicks killers," then look no further than Michael Jordan. During that same time period the Knicks went 1-5 vs. Jordan's Bulls. The only time the Knicks broke through to the NBA Finals was the year that MJ had chose to play baseball. He beat the Knicks into submission regularly, not only with his points, but his words and sometimes with his fists. Jordan's best game against the Knicks far outshines Miller's finest game against that same team. New York might have "hated" Reggie Miller, but they only "feared" MJ. There was no answer for Michael, but they did answer the Pacers' best player multiple times.
Reggie Miller didn't dominate the Knicks. Sure he played well against them. Sure he had a couple miracle games. Sure he and Spike Lee had some public beef. But he was by no means Michael Jordan. He wasn't a finisher like MJ, he was just a great player who had great moments. Jordan was the true killer. The title of that 30 for 30 should have been "Sometimes Winning: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks." Or maybe they should have made the movie about Jordan, but it probably would have been too violent and as you can see, David Stern wouldn't have been happy about it.
And for all us Knicks, cringe as you watch this. I'm sorry but this just wasn't in Reggie's repertoire.
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