The memories came flooding back for Derek Harper.
The frustration. The anguish. The heartbreak.
Harper was in Los Angeles preparing to work Game 5 of the Clippers-Mavericks opening-round series as Game 5 of the Knicks-76ers series was unfolding.
As Tyrese Maxey forced overtime with seven of his 46 points in the final 25.1 seconds of regulation and the Knicks failed to close it out in overtime, Harper couldn’t help but think back to May 7, 1995, the day Reggie Miller scored eight points in 8.9 seconds.
“It was all negative thoughts, really surreal going over it again,” the former Knicks point guard recalled in a phone interview with The Post. “It wasn’t pleasant at all. I really got goose bumps, I’m not going to kid you. [Tuesday] night, I got goose bumps, and they were from a bad place.”
Miller’s heroics famously sent the Pacers to a stunning Game 1 victory over the Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Tuesday’s setback had similarities in that the Knicks lost a game they virtually had won, due to a miraculous performance from an opposing guard.
The 1995 Knicks responded in the next game by crushing the Pacers by 19 points. They didn’t let the demoralizing setback fester, though they ultimately lost the series in seven games.
There wasn’t much talking about putting it behind them — everyone in that locker room knew it was their only option.
These current Knicks now have to do the same thing, with a chance to advance Thursday night in Philadelphia and avoid a do-or-die Game 7 at the Garden two days later.
“It sounds generic, but it’s probably one of the more difficult things to do in sports is to let something go — good, bad or indifferent. You gotta let it go,” Harper said. “Thinking about it is not going to do anything other than compound the situation for you, it’s going to make it even more difficult to get to the game [Thursday] night.
“If you’re sitting up on the floor getting ready to play Game 6, if that’s what you’re thinking about, you’re going to lose Game 6. … You can’t [let] in negative experiences. You have to get off the mat. If Mike Tyson knocks you out, and all you think about is, ‘Oh he may knock me out again,’ you better not go back out there, because he is going to knock you out again.”
Greg Anthony was also on that 1995 Knicks team.
Afterward, he was crushed and felt shocked, because it was hard to fathom how the game changed so quickly.
Anthony was heavily involved in Miller’s late-game barrage. Miller got away with colliding into Anthony, which led to a turnover and Miller hitting a 3-pointer that pulled the Pacers even with 13.2 seconds left.
But by the time Anthony left the arena that night, he had moved on to Game 2.
Agonizing over the past would do no good. He believes these Knicks will have the same mentality.
“This is where the series should be anyway, because the reality is Philly did the same thing in Game 2. It makes for great drama,” said Anthony, now an analyst for TNT. “The Knicks are a professional group, they’re not going to dwell on it, I don’t think, nor is the coaching staff. The only people who are emotionally scarred are the fans.”
He added: “The postseason is all about adversity and how you deal with it, and [this is] the ultimate adversity. Philly just went through it — Philly gave away a game in Game 2. They came home and they responded the way you have to respond. … It’s the same for the Knicks. You don’t sit around crying and sulking and dwelling on it, you’re not pointing fingers.”
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Derek Harper, Greg Anthony know firsthand how 'difficult' Knicks' task is after painful loss - New York Post
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