The Knicks played with the Pacers' breathtaking tempo for 44 minutes. But they let a 14-point lead disappear in final three minutes of Game 1 loss.

In the final minute of overtime, an Obi Toppin follow-up dunk and nifty pass from Haliburton to a cutting Andew Nembhard gave the Pacers the spark they needed to withstand two late three-point attempts from New York stars Jalen Brunson (43 points) and Karl-Anthony Towns (35 points), which would have tied the game.

A controversial helped doom the Knicks on Wednesday night in a gut-wrenching 138-135 Game 1 loss to the Pacers.

The Knicks led by 17 points with 6:26 remaining in the fourth quarter and by nine points with under a minute left, only to lose, 138-135, in overtime at Madison Square Garden.

The Indiana Pacers visit the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals with a 1-0 lead in the series. The teams meet for the fifth time this season.

Anunoby was one of multiple Knicks to miss a key free throw in the closing minute of regulation and he also committed a turnover in OT to negate the thunderous chants of “OG, OG” he had heard earlier in the fourth quarter from the MSG crowd.

Tyrese Haliburton scored 31 points and made a game-tying jumper to force overtime and the Pacers rallied for a 138-135 Game 1 win over the Knicks.