Reggie Miller was not scheduled to call the Pacers vs. Knicks series for TNT, but the network had Miller appear at Game 2 because of his competitive history with them. Miller claimed that opposing teams playing against the Knicks in Madison Square Garden are playing 5 vs. 8 because the three officials are also on the Knicks’ side.
“You’re playing 5 vs 8… You’re playing the officials as well.”
This is an incredibly wild comment for a league announcer to make on air. Miller, as the Pacers legend who’s had incredible outings in MSG, has a very educated opinion on this matter, but as a league commentator, he needs to be unbiased. Maintaining that unbiasedness can’t be easy for Miller, as MSG united in ‘F**k you, Reggie’ chants during the game.
What Miller said ended up being prophetic, with all everyone talking about from this game being the lopsided whistle that favored the Knicks. It’s not easy to overcome shoddy refereeing, but the Pacers kept both Games 1 and 2 close while hoping that their home arena would lead to a fairer whistle for them.
The Indiana Pacers Submitted 78 Plays As Incorrect Calls Over Games 1 And 2
Rick Carlisle spoke at length about how lopsided the officiating had been through Games 1 and 2 after their loss last night, asking for small-market teams to be given a chance while revealing that the Pacers chose to not submit clips of 29 missed calls from Game 1 to the NBA.
“After Game 1… It felt like the whistles weren’t balanced… There were 29 plays in Game 1 that we felt were clearly called the wrong way. I decided not to submit them because I felt like we’d get a more balanced whistle tonight. It didn’t feel that way… Give New York credit for the physicality they play with but their physicality is rewarded & ours is penalized time after time… Small market teams deserve an equal shot.”
Carlisle promised to send a collection of clips from Game 2 to the league office for their perusal, with these complaints in the playoffs also leading to the opposing team getting a copy of all the clips for their own analysis.
“I can promise you that we’re going to submit these tonight. New York can get ready. They’ll see ’em too. I’m always talking to our guys about not making it about the officials, but we deserve a fair shot.”
"Game 1…29 plays…clearly called wrong way…Didn't submit…[Tonight] Haliburton's got bad back & Hart comes up & shoves him…all over Twitter…no whistle…shocking. Many others; I can promise you we're gonna submit these tonight. New York can get ready…Their physicality is… pic.twitter.com/poHTbw6tOi
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) May 9, 2024
Carlisle followed through on that promise, with ESPN reporting that the Pacers have submitted 78 clips to the league, adding 49 clips from Game 2 to the 29 they hadn’t sent after Game 1.
“The Indiana Pacers have submitted 78 plays to the NBA that they felt were called incorrectly against them during Games 1 and 2 against the New York Knicks, a league source told ESPN.”
If all of the media uproar around the officiating and the Pacers sending 78 plays from just two games doesn’t cause the referee’s whistle to switch, nothing would change it. But it’s interesting how Miller’s statement turned out to be true with the Pacers clearly feeling upset at how they’ve been treated by the officials for the two games in MSG.
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