Following Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, it was hard to tell who had the worse night, the Boston Celtics or NBA on TNT’s Reggie Miller.
Now, Reggie Miller isn’t exactly beloved by New York Knicks fans. That’s putting it mildly, or in journalistic terms, we’re essentially burying the lede here. There’s bad blood. There always has been. Miller might want Knicks fans to leave him alone. Still, in the same breath, he’ll playfully refer to himself as the “Boogeyman” while attempting to absolve himself of any Indiana Pacers bias.
He trolls the Knicks and their fans, and they respond in kind, as Josh Hart informed him last year.
But these are this year’s playoffs, and Reggie Miller had a rough fourth quarter in Monday’s Game 1.
Miller missed the mark in two of the game’s pivotal plays.
First, he made Jalen Brunson’s missed shot at the end of regulation sound like a routine layup, even though it was a tough attempt with a defender right in front of him.
Jalen Brunson misses a potential game winner for the Knicks and we’re going to OT!
🎙️Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller on the call for TNTpic.twitter.com/9hN2TLubrG
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 6, 2025
And as Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina pointed out, Miller’s biggest blunder came in overtime. He wrongly claimed that the Knicks, up by three, had fouled Jaylen Brown in the act of shooting, which would’ve granted him three free throws. But it wasn’t even close to being a shooting foul. Karl-Anthony Towns took a take foul up 3, clearly pushing the Cal product before he went into his shooting motion.
It ended up being a smart foul, allowing Mikal Bridges — and the Knicks — to steal Game 1 from the Celtics.
MIKAL BRIDGES WITH A STEAL TO WIN GAME 1 FOR THE KNICKS!pic.twitter.com/oVq6XtCnqR
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 6, 2025
But Miller did anything but steal the show on Monday night, and social media let him know about it.
@PeterVecsey1 I NOW understand why you loathe Reggie Miller after listening to him on the call tonight.
— Darren Smith (@DarrenSmithNFL) May 6, 2025
watching your team blow a 20 point lead in a playoff game with reggie miller screaming in your ears should earn you some sort of reparation
— casual c’s enjoyer (@cssavedme) May 6, 2025
That #Knicks win was amazing. Watching it with @jackhealey24 is next level.
Gotta say, having Reggie Miller on the call was excruciating all night. The guy hates the Knicks so much, he had glee in his voice when Brunson missed that last shot in the fourth.
— Mark C. Healey (@MarkCHealey) May 6, 2025
“I’ll just say anything and then correct myself when I’m wrong over and over” is quite the broadcasting philosophy.
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) May 6, 2025
He’s admonishing the Knicks as if they didn’t perfectly execute exactly what they wanted to do lol. https://t.co/4Pwo6H386P
— Cody Westerlund (@CodyWesterlund) May 6, 2025
when you’re forced to listen to more reggie miller pic.twitter.com/83Kh2bFzrC
— sean yoo (@SeanYoo) May 6, 2025
“Not a defender in sight” – Reggie Miller pic.twitter.com/M1cLzY5FiI
— Ricky (@MrRickySpanish) May 6, 2025
Reggie Miller literally sounds like the Boston home broadcast this is hilarious
— KnicksMuse (@KnicksMuse) May 6, 2025
Much of the above commentary should be taken with a grain of salt, as both Miller and Knicks fans came into Monday night’s contest with preconceived notions of one another. That said, Reggie Miller is objectively good at his job, but he was objectively underwhelming in the closing seconds of both the fourth quarter and overtime. Two things can be true, and it’s why he’ll play a significant role in the NBA’s relaunch on NBC.
But just like the Celtics, Reggie Miller should flush Game 1 out of his system.