Tyrese Haliburton's dream playoff run continues for Pacers: ‘That boy cold, man'

New York Times

07-05-2025

CLEVELAND — Missing a free throw, then getting your own rebound and making a game-winning 3-pointer all in the span of 12 seconds? It's the stuff basketball dreams are made of.
'It's a special feeling, man. It's a lot of fun,' Tyrese Haliburton said. 'Any basketball fan, or anybody who's involved in basketball at all … has imagined being a kid, being in the driveway, being in the living room, time winding down in their head, shooting it, missing, and putting more time on the clock. I'm just having fun out there. And winning is fun.'
On Tuesday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers built a 20-point lead in the second half and looked like they were going to even up the second-round series. They led by seven with less than 50 seconds to go. But then the Haliburton stepback 3-pointer that will live in Indiana Pacers history happened, and Indiana defeated the Cavs 120-119 to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
It took a series of perfect and improbable events to set up the shot that silenced the raucous crowd in Rocket Arena.
Donovan Mitchell made two free throws with 57.1 seconds left to give the Cavaliers a 119-112 lead. That would be the last time they scored.
First, Aaron Nesmith came running from the top of the key with a tip dunk after a missed free throw by Pascal Siakam. Then Siakam hit a layup with 27.1 seconds left to make it a three-point game. Next, Andrew Nembhard got a steal when the Cavs' Max Strus lobbed an inbound pass.
Haliburton was fouled with 12.1 seconds remaining. He made the first of two free throws and grabbed his own rebound.
'It's funny how it works out sometimes,' said Haliburton, who scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter. 'The ball came off. I jumped to grab it. I was going to shoot the floater right there. I kind of was looking around, but I just wanted to get out to the top.'
Indiana had a timeout remaining, but coach Rick Carlisle didn't call it, choosing instead to trust his star and let the game flow. Haliburton dribbled beyond the arc before launching with a second left on the clock.
'And then I just saw me and Ty Jerome at the top of the key,' he said. 'I had space, and I just tried to make a play. I felt comfortable there. And, you know, just knocked it down.'
After the shot, Haliburton celebrated by paying homage to former NBA guard Sam Cassell and the movie 'Major League II' in what has previously been deemed an obscene gesture by the NBA.
'I've been waiting for that, man; it was just right in the moment,' Haliburton said. 'I'll gladly take that fine.'
As the final buzzer sounded, Pacers players surrounded Haliburton and celebrated as the home fans booed. Indiana came into Cleveland hoping to at least split the first two games, and instead walked away with a 2-0 advantage on the top-seeded Cavs.
'We've been in a lot of these situations this year and down the stretch of the season,' Carlisle said. 'We did a really good job situationally at the end and obviously had to get lucky.'
With the late-game heroics, Haliburton became just the second player in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98) with multiple go-ahead field goals in the final two seconds in a single postseason. The other? LeBron James.
It was the kind of performance, Haliburton's teammates have come to expect from him.
'He's been making big plays,' guard Bennedict Mathurin said. 'People are still surprised, shockingly. He's been making big plays at big, big times.'
'Quite frankly,' Pacers center Myles Turner added, 'that boy cold, man.'
Cleveland was missing three key players. Darius Garland (left big toe) missed his fourth straight postseason game. NBA Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley (left ankle) and De'Andre Hunter (right thumb) were injured in Game 1 on back-to-back fourth quarter possessions.
Despite being shorthanded, Cleveland came out of the gate with force. They led 32-15 after the first quarter and took an 11-point lead into halftime.
'We expected a punch like that,' Turner said. 'We wanted to be the ones that throw the first punch. But it doesn't always go that way. They picked up the pressure, picked up their physicality.'
Early in the game, the Cavs defense made it difficult for Haliburton to get assists or score.
'They made an effort to cut off his blood flow,' Carlisle said. 'They were making it hard, and they were hitting them, and they were doing physical things. They had set a tone.'
It was the fourth 20-point comeback win of this postseason, the most in a single playoffs in the play-by-play era.
'I still can't even really process it,' Nembhard said. 'We talk about playing it out to the end and never, never giving up. I guess that's what we did.'
Nembhard had eight of the Pacers' 17 turnovers. But he also had 13 points, 13 assists, seven rebounds and two steals. Nesmith and Turner each scored 23 points. Mathurin, who was critical to the comeback, added 19 points off the bench. And Siakam had 12 points, six rebounds and four assists. It was yet another game in which the Pacers had at least six players in double figures.
'That's a total team win for us,' Haliburton said. 'That's who we are. We're not a one-man show. We have so many guys who can chip in getting double figures. We had six guys in double figures tonight, and that's been the theme for us and our success many times.'
During the game, chants of 'Overrated' rang out from the crowd, a reference to Haliburton being voted the league's most overrated player by peers in The Athletic 's NBA player poll. Mitchell tried to quiet the home fans in the first half.
Mitchell quieting the 'overrated' chants aimed at Tyrese Haliburton in the first half 🤝 pic.twitter.com/GN39jZ0xNB
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 7, 2025
'That one was unexpected,' Haliburton said. 'I didn't know we had beef. Good for them. That came out of nowhere. I think now that the label's there, it'll probably follow me. Until that next poll comes out, we'll see if I'm No. 1 again. For me, I just control what I can.
'Overrate that.'
(Photo of Tyrese Haliburton celebrating with Aaron Nesmith, left, and Myles Turner: David Richard / Imagn Images)