Reggie Miller took a moment Wednesday to sit courtside with Spike Lee, the Knicks superfan he famously traded barbs with throughout his Pacers’ postseason battles at Madison Square Garden more than two decades ago.
Back at the Garden to call Game 2 of the latest Knicks-Pacers playoff series for TNT, Miller posed for pregame photos with Lee, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind movies such as “Do the Right Thing” and “She’s Gotta Have It.”
“Me and Reggie squashed that stuff 20 years ago, so we’re friends,” Lee told the Daily News at the Garden, shortly before reuniting with his one-time rival. “In fact, I’ve got some stuff I want him to sign tonight.”
Among the items Miller signed was a framed copy of the June 3, 1994 edition of the Daily News, which featured the headline, “Thanks A Lot, Spike.”
Miller’s Pacers met the Knicks in six playoff series between 1993 and 2000, with the teams winning three apiece. The sharp-shooting, trash-talking Miller repeatedly delivered memorable moments during those epic clashes, especially with Lee sitting courtside.
The spirited spats included Miller giving the “choke” gesture to Lee during a Pacers come-from-behind victory in Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals, and Miller scoring eight points in 8.9 seconds late in Game 1 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals.
“We’re two grown men,” Lee said. “That’s dead and buried. We’re good.”
Miller averaged 23.1 points per game over 35 postseason meetings with the Knicks, during which he established himself as the ultimate New York sports villain.
This year’s second-round matchup between the Knicks and Pacers marks the eighth postseason meeting between the teams.
Miller’s pregame stroll onto the Garden court Wednesday received a subdued fan reaction, but with under a minute remaining in the Knicks’ 130-121 win, many in the crowd began chanting, “F–k you, Reggie!”
“I don’t know if you heard, I think they said, ‘F–k you,'” Knicks guard Josh Hart said to a seated Miller in audio caught on the TNT broadcast.
Miller had expected some hostility.
“I’m sure I’ll hear the chants,” Miller said Monday on “The Dan Patrick Show” of his Garden return. “I’m sure I’ll hear all those naughty words. I’m good with that, but I’m there to do a job, to call a game. … I will be surprised during the game if I don’t hear ‘Reggie sucks.’ Actually, I’ll be a little hurt.”
Miller, who spent his entire Hall of Fame career with the Pacers, called the first two games of the Nuggets-Timberwolves series in Denver before pivoting to Game 2 at the Garden.
“People are like, ‘Aren’t you worried about going back to New York City and calling a game?’ No,” Miller said Wednesday during a pregame hit on TNT. “I’ve owned this city. I’ve owned this building, so why would I be worried?”
Miller joined Brian Anderson, Stan Van Gundy and Chris Haynes — the trio who called Game 1 — for Wednesday’s broadcast.
“It’s great for the league to have all the former players around,” said Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, who was an assistant during three of those series against Millers’ Pacers. “I think that the tradition of that is important. We’re excited we have a number of our guys here as well.”
Lee, too, is enjoying the latest chapter of Knicks-Pacers.
“We gotta win,” Lee said with a laugh. “We gotta win.”
