Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton gets last word after defeating Knicks with Reggie Miller hoodie

Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton punctuated his breakout season with 26 points to lead his team to a Game 7 win over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Sunday in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

It was a statement game for the fourth-year point guard, and Haliburton showed he was aware of seizing the moment while talking trash to the Knicks fans sitting courtside after hitting a 3-pointer to give the Pacers a 34–22 first-quarter lead.

Haliburton's interaction was reminiscent of Pacers legend Reggie Miller going back and forth with Knicks fans during the 1994 and 1995 NBA playoffs. Those face-offs inspired a 2010 ESPN "30 for "30 documentary, "Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the New York Knicks."

Miller is considered a public enemy at MSG to this day because of those infamous confrontations, and fans reminded him of that when he called Game 2 of this year's Pacers-Knicks series for TNT.

The Hall of Famer got the last laugh over Knicks fans in one of those two postseason matchups (losing in 1994, but winning in 1995). He also may have gotten a vicarious last word through Haliburton after the Pacers' big win knocked New York out of the playoffs and put the Pacers in the East finals, where they'll face the top-seed Boston Celtics.

Following Indiana's victory, Haliburton appeared at the postgame news conference wearing a hooded sweatshirt with a photo of Miller's infamous "choke" gesture directed at Knicks superfan Spike Lee during the 1994 playoffs. It was a bold choice of attire for Haliburton, which he disingenuously tried to downplay.

"I'm just wearing a hoodie. I like to be comfy on the plane," Haliburton said to laughing reporters and teammates. "I got this hoodie like two days ago. Appreciate whoever gave it to me."

Haliburton did not wear that hoodie while arriving at MSG for Sunday's game. That would've been a bold step too far, one which he would've had to eat for the rest of his career if the Pacers had lost. So either he had that top packed up, hoping to show it off after a win, or someone with the team brought it to New York for him.

Regardless of the answer, the hoodie was a confident, brash proclamation, one which should stoke a rivalry with the Knicks and their fans — and make Haliburton a legend to Pacers fans — for years to come.

During a season in which Haliburton was voted as a starter to the Eastern Conference All-Star team, led Indiana to the finals of the NBA in-season tournament, and fueled their first trip to the East finals since the 2013-14 campaign, having some fun with NBA history at his opponent's expense was an engaging gesture to remember.