Michael Jordan was my sports hero growing up as a kid watching NBA basketball, but it was great fun reliving the heated rivalry between Reggie Miller and his hate-hate relationship with the New York Knicks while da man was "on hiatus" during the 94-95 seasons where the Eastern Conference finals determined who would be going to the championship against the formidable Houston Rockets and Hakim Olijuwon. In "30 X 30:Winning Time-Reggie Miller vs the New York Knicks", this documentary highlights the enormity of the feud between the Indiana Pacers star and the Madison Square Garden crowd and NY team. With in-depth interviews by a cast of those whose lives were a part of this particular time in the NBA, affected by Miller and his dagger three pointers, you get a chance to hear from those who, for better or worse, still feel the wounds of both winning and losing to your arch rival in the atmosphere of the big game when everything was on the line. We see how both teams suffered from losing the heartbreaking game that would send one home and the other to the promised land of the NBA finals. Candid interviews from Miller, his basketball star sister, Knicks stars John Starks and Patrick Ewing(..the famous "missed shot" where Ewing seems to have an easy lay up is still painful to witness again), newspaper reporters, broadcasters, coaches, and Pacers guard Mark Jackson(..who was a jaded former Knick seeking revenge against his former team)all add insight to the mind set of the rivalry. Through press clippings, old interviews, and replayed footage from the spirited games that were richly contested by both teams, this documentary reawakens that time and place effectively. Spike Lee, whose relationship with Miller, the two jawing back and forth at Madison Square Garden, contributes to the documentary, and highlighted specifically is the game where RM hit two three pointers and two free throws in a matter of seconds, stealing the first in the Pacers-Knicks series at MSG. There's a plethora of basketball talent on display here with interviews from both those who played for the Pacers and Knicks, so we are given privileged information from all who participated.
