NEW YORK — The sudden silence among Knicks fans spoke volumes.

As the Indiana Pacers celebrated Tyrese Haliburton’s stepback buzzer beater in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, a sellout Madison Square Garden hushed in disbelief.

They had just witnessed an epic postseason collapse.

After his improbable jumper bounced off the back of the rim, hung in the air and fell through the net, Haliburton unleashed the “choke” taunt made famous by Reggie Miller in the same round and in the same arena some 31 years earlier.

And while Haliburton’s right toe was on the line — making his shot a game-tying 2-pointer, not a game-winning 3-pointer — the Pacers would emerge victorious in overtime, 138-135.

The Knicks led by 17 points with 6:26 remaining in regulation; by 14 points with 2:51 to go; and by nine points with 58.1 seconds left.

But the Pacers rattled off a 20-6 run in the last 2:39 of the fourth quarter, with Aaron Nesmith’s trio of 3-pointers in the final minute setting up Haliburton’s heroics.

“You just can never let your guard down against them,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said afterward. “No lead is safe.”

How historic was the Pacers’ furious comeback?

Here’s what the numbers say.

1,414

That’s how many instances before Wednesday that a team led by at least nine points in the last minute of regulation or overtime in a playoff game since 1998, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Those teams had won all 1,414 times.

But the Knicks became the first to lose in such circumstances, something that has now happened in 0.00071% of those games.

The Pacers trailed 121-112 before Nesmith made 3-pointers on back-to-back-to-back possessions. The first one came with 51 seconds to go.

Missed free throws by Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby in the waning seconds contributed to it being a one-possession game before Haliburton made his shot — and celebration — with Miller in the building as a TNT broadcaster.

970

In a similar vein, teams that led by 14 or more points in the final 2:50 of regulation were 970-0 over the last 27 postseasons.

Until Wednesday.

Nesmith scored 12 points in the last 2:04 of Wednesday’s game — with four 3-pointers in that stretch — to fuel the comeback.

99.8%

The Knicks’ win probability was 99.8% when they took a 116-102 lead with 3:44 left in the fourth quarter on a Jalen Brunson free throw, according to ESPN Analytics.

It was 99.7% when a Brunson 3-pointer gave them a 119-105 lead with 2:51 to go.

And it was 98.8% when Brunson’s layup with 58.1 seconds remaining put the Knicks up 121-112.

The Knicks even had a 58.3% win probability with 35.2 seconds left in overtime after a Brunson floater put them up 135-134.

But those proved to be the Knicks’ final points.

6

Nesmith became the first player in NBA history to make six 3-pointers in the fourth quarter of a playoff game.

He is the seventh player to make six 3-pointers in a single quarter of a playoff game, but each of the previous six instances came in the first or second quarter. That exclusive club includes Stephen Curry, Devin Booker and Damian Lillard.

Nesmith scored 20 points in the fourth quarter, with all of them coming in the last 4:45.

He made eight 3-pointers in the game to set a Pacers playoff record — no small feat considering Miller, who ranks sixth in NBA history in made 3-pointers, spent his entire career with Indiana.

Nesmith finished with 30 points on 9-of-13 shooting, including 8-of-9 shooting on 3-point attempts.

“Aaron’s heroics, they can’t be talked about enough,” Haliburton said. “He was amazing down the stretch.”

4

Wednesday marked the fourth instance since 1997 in which a team trailing by seven or more points in the final 50 seconds of regulation or overtime won a playoff game.

Teams are now 4-1,702 in those scenarios.

Remarkably, the Pacers have three such wins this postseason.

Indiana fell behind 118-111 with 40 seconds left in overtime in Game 5 against the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, only to win, 119-118.

In the next round, the Pacers trailed 119-112 in the fourth quarter of Game 2 against the Cleveland Cavaliers before a Nesmith dunk with 47.2 seconds left kicked off an 8-0 run.

Haliburton capped that 120-119 win with a stepback 3-pointer that strongly resembled Wednesday’s buzzer beater.

31

The Pacers scored 31 points on their final 13 possessions of regulation.

That’s an average of nearly 2.4 points per possession — or a whopping 238.5 points per 100 possessions.

Indiana was similarly prolific to start the first quarter, making each of its first nine field goals and scoring 20 points on its first 10 possessions, or 2.0 points per possession.

That’s an average of 200 points per 100 possessions.

78

Brunson (43 points) and Towns (35 points) combined for 78 points in the loss.

They shot a combined 26 of 42 (61.9%) from the field and 21 of 25 (84%) from the free-throw line.

That combined point total was Brunson and Towns’ highest since they teamed up for 80 in a Feb. 12 overtime win in Atlanta. It was their most combined points in a playoff game.

“In the playoffs, when you win it’s the best thing ever and when you lose it’s the worst thing ever,” Brunson said.

“The best way to deal with all that is to stay level-headed and making sure we have each other’s backs. Obviously, I thought we would go on to finish the game. Tomorrow we’re gonna have to watch film and get better, and just making sure we’re ready for Game 2.

It’s a short turnaround for Game 2, which is scheduled for Friday night at the Garden.

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