Latest news with #MajorLeagueII
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton reportedly receives warning from NBA for Game 2 celebration, but no fine
Tyrese Haliburton said he would "take that fine gladly" if any penalties were coming for his celebratory dance after hitting the game-winning 3-pointer in the Indiana Pacers' Game 2 comeback playoff win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. However, he reportedly only received a warning from the NBA for emulating Sam Cassell and "Major League II" character Pedro Cerrano with his "big-balls" celebration, the Associated Press reports. The league has made no official announcement on the matter. Advertisement Haliburton said after Wednesday's game he'd been waiting for an opportunity to do the dance. There may have never been a better one than after a game-winning shot in a playoff game on the road. The shot came after Hailburton grabbed the rebound off his own missed free throw and dribbled the ball back to the top of the 3-point arc. With Cleveland's Ty Jerome defending him, Haliburton then freed himself up on a crossover dribble, jab step and stepback move for a clean shot that went in with 1.1 seconds remaining. "I've been waiting for that. I've been waiting for that, man,' Haliburton said, via the AP. "It was just right in the moment. It was right in the moment. Yeah, man, I've been waiting for that. I'll take that fine, gladly." The Pacers star had plenty of reason to believe he would draw a fine for what the NBA has previously called an "obscene gesture" and penalized players for doing it, including LeBron James, Fred Van Vleet, Julius Randle, Jameer Nelson and Eddie House. Fines ranged from $15,000 to $25,000. Advertisement Whether it was because Haliburton's celebration occurred in a playoff game or for presumably committing a first-time offense, he won't be joining that list. But there could always be a next time. Game 3 between the Pacers and Cavaliers is scheduled for Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET at Indianapolis. Indiana holds a 2-0 series lead.
Indianapolis Star
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indianapolis Star
Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton warned but not fined for celebration dance after Game 2 vs Cavs
INDIANAPOLIS -- Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton has received a warning from the NBA about his somewhat vulgar celebration dance after his game-winning 3-pointer to beat the Cavaliers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Tuesday, but he will not be fined according to a league source. The news was first reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press. Haliburton got his own rebound off a missed free throw and stepped back beyond the 3-point arc to hit the game-winner with 1.1 seconds to go to give the Pacers a 120-119 win. He turned around and let his hands hang down below his waist and cupped them to suggest he was carrying an enlarged part of the male anatomy. It's a celebration that was brought to the NBA by long-time point guard Sam Cassell, who played in the league from 1993-2008, but he got the idea from the 1994 baseball comedy movie Major League II. Pacers news: NBA says it missed 3 calls in final minute of Pacers vs. Cavs Game 2; some were important Haliburton said after the game that he was waiting for the right moment for the celebration. He pulled it off after the Pacers came back from down 20 points in the third quarter and down seven with 48 seconds to play. He also did it in Cleveland, home of the baseball team formerly known as the Indians, the protagonist team in both Major League and Major League II.
Fox News
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton could face fine after lewd celebration following clutch 3-pointer
Tyrese Haliburton pushed the Indiana Pacers' second-round series lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers to 2-0 after his incredible three-point shot on Tuesday night. But how he celebrated may result in a fine from the league – he's perfectly fine if it happens, too. Haliburton stunned Cleveland on their home court, getting the rebound on his own missed free throw and proceeding to bury a stepback 3-pointer at the top of the key with one second left to beat the Cavs, 120-119. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON During the main TNT broadcast, Haliburton's celebration was off frame. A replay showed exactly how he celebrated, and he used the infamous "big-b---- dance," which was made famous in "Major League II" and brought to the league by former NBA guard Sam Cassell. In the league's eyes, though, fines have been dished out for those replicating it in the past. After the game, Haliburton said it was one he was "waiting" to use, and will take whatever fine may come. "It was just right in the moment," he told reporters. "I'll take that fine gladly." TYRESE HALIBURTON MAKES LAST-SECOND 3 TO COMPLETE PACERS' WILD COMEBACK, TAKE SURPRISING 2-0 LEAD OVER CAVS Haliburton's response shows that he knew the risk of the celebration well before using it, which is why he's had it in the holster for the right moment. Haliburton has had quite the NBA Playoffs run already, especially when it comes to clutch shots in crunch time. In the Pacers' first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks, he drove past Giannis Antetokounmpo and made a layup just before time expired to close out the series in five games. Now, on the road, the Pacers have taken down the top-seeded Cavs twice, and Haliburton's 22 points in Game 1 helped Indiana's case before his heroics in Game 2. If the playoffs didn't add enough motivation to perform, Haliburton has also been drawing some from an NBA players poll, which had him as the most common answer for most overrated player in the league. He said, "Overrate that," when he ended the Bucks' chances at lifting the Larry O'Brien Trophy. "That one was unexpected," Haliburton said in that series when asked about the overrated chants he was hearing. "I didn't know we had beef. I think now that that label is there, it's going to be that every time we play somebody on the road. It'll probably follow me until the next poll comes out. Overrate that." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The series heads to Indianapolis now, where the Pacers have a comfortable 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven bout with Cleveland. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
New York Times
07-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Tyrese Haliburton's dream playoff run continues for Pacers: ‘That boy cold, man'
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 🤝 — 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)
Indianapolis Star
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indianapolis Star
Tyrese Haliburton does it again, then shows Cleveland how: 'I'll take that fine gladly'
CLEVELAND -- As a lifelong WWE fan, Tyrese Haliburton is a believer in showmanship and in making the most of the stagecraft opportunities in sports. He's intentional about on-court celebrations, understanding how they can become part of sports lore and iconography and add a measure of immortality to moments because of the images they produce. So there was a celebration he was waiting to break out for just the right time. One he could only use once because, well, it's vulgar, and it's almost certainly going to lead to a chunk of money going to the NBA's bank account rather than his. It involves letting one's hands fall below his waist and cupping them in such a way as to suggest certain unmentionable parts of a man's anatomy metaphorically associated with fortitude are particularly large. It's a celebration point guard Sam Cassell first brought to the NBA during his career from 1993-2008, but he got the idea from the baseball comedy movie Major League II in which fictional Cleveland Indians Japanese outfielder Isuro "Kamikaze" Tanaka and first baseman Pedro Cerrano celebrate a Cerrano home run by noting his "marbles." And if there was ever a time for Haliburton to make the argument the celebration makes — for himself and for the Pacers as a team — Indiana's incredible 120-119 comeback win Tuesday over the Cavaliers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals was the time. The win will go down as one of the most stunning and remarkable in franchise history, right there with Reggie Miller's eight points in nine seconds miracle in 1995, but for these Pacers it was the latest and greatest in a series of awe-inspiring rallies. The Pacers had an abysmal first quarter, fell behind by 20 points in the second quarter and the third quarter and were down by 14 when the fourth quarter started. They were still down by 11 with 8:27 to go and they were down by seven with 48 seconds to go. But they had been in dire straits like that more than once. So just as they did in a similar situation in Game 5 of the first round against the Bucks last week, the Pacers strung together a series of improbable plays to pull off a nearly impossible comeback. And just as he did against the Bucks with his game-winning layup, Haliburton made the last of those plays. This time he missed a free throw, but pulled down a rebound tipped out to him by teammate Myles Turner, ran back behind the 3-point line and sank a cold-blooded rainbow jumper with 1.1 seconds to go to complete a four-point possession and put the Pacers up one. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. Then he turned around as the Cavaliers' Sam Merrill missed a last-second heave and performed a celebration Cleveland fans didn't need to have translated before he was mobbed by teammates. "Yeah, man, I've been waiting for that moment," Haliburton said. "I'll take that fine gladly." The comeback gives the No. 4 seed Pacers a commanding 2-0 lead after two games at No. 1 seed Cleveland, which gives them a chance to put the series away when they return to Indianapolis for Games 3 and 4 on Friday and Sunday. The Cavaliers were playing without two injured All-Stars in point guard Darius Garland and forward Evan Mobley as well as one of the NBA's best subs in forward De'Andre Hunter, but they got a legendary performance from All-NBA guard Donovan Mitchell, who put Cleveland on his back with 48 points. They also got stellar performances from center Jarrett Allen (22 points, 12 rebounds) and sharp-shooting wing Max Strus (23 points on five 3-pointers). But for all Cleveland did right, they couldn't put away a Pacers team that is proving to be arguably the toughest team in the NBA to kill. After the game, the Pacers posted on their social media accounts a stat saying in the past 20 years, teams that have trailed by at least seven points with 48 seconds to go are 3-1,679. The Pacers have accounted for two of those three wins in the past eight days with their other being the Game 5 win over the Bucks. The Pacers were not just drawing on that experience but in so many others throughout 2024-25 and even the past three seasons. In the last two weeks of the season, the Pacers won seven of eight games, but five of those wins were within six points. They were 24-14 this season in "clutch" games — games that were within five points at any point in a game's final five minutes or overtime — with the 24 wins putting them in a tie for fourth in the league in the category. "We've seen a lot these last three, four weeks of the season and it prepared us for moments like such," Turner said. "It's a thing of beauty right now. We're playing some great basketball. ... There's always time on the clock. That's what we keep telling ourselves. We know how our pressure wears on teams." Said Haliburton: "The end of our season has looked a lot like this. We've had many games where you could take a screenshot at any moment and be like, 'How did they win this game?' But we just have a resilient group, man. We just figure out ways to win. We don't give up and we're battle-tested. As a group we've basically been together for about two years now. That continuity has been really good for us. We've had to figure out so many different ways to win." They've had to figure out how to recover from bad starts before, which was helpful because their first quarter was atrocious. The Pacers made their first three shots in the game's first 90 seconds to take a 7-2 lead, but then proceeded to make just 2-of-13 field goals the rest of the period, falling behind 32-15. They finished the period 5-of-16 from the floor and 1-of-8 from 3-point range while turning the ball over nine times for a miserable efficiency figure of 0.61 points per possession. The Pacers, however, were in territory they knew well. They also fell behind by 17 points after the first quarter in Game 5 against the Bucks with an equally abysmal start as they scored just 13 points in that period. "We went down 17 in the first quarter and we just talked, 'Hey, we were down 17 against Milwaukee," Haliburton said. "We figured out, 'Let's win every quarter by six.' We won the second quarter by six. Lose the third quarter, so we knew we had ground to make up." Indeed, the Pacers outscored the Cavs 35-29 and lost the third 37-34, but that was in part because Pacers coach Rick Carlisle used a lineup of all bench players late in the third quarter and left them out there even as Mitchell came back in the game for the final 2:12 of the period. That group didn't cut too much into the lead, but it didn't lose too much ground either and it allowed Carlisle to ride his top six players throughout the fourth quarter. Haliburton, Turner and guard Andrew Nembhard each played all 12 minutes and forwards Aaron Nesmith and Pascal Siakam split the remaining time among the three of them. That group outscored the Cavs in the fourth quarter 36-21, making 15-of-28 field goals while holding Cleveland to 5-of-18 shooting including 1-of-6 from 3-point range. All six players the Pacers used made massive plays and their starting five all came up with tide-turners in the game's final minute. Bennedict Mathurin scored 16 second-half points with a key 3-pointer and a tip-dunk being among the highlights, but Mitchell kept answering and holding back charges. He hit two free throws with 58 seconds left to put the Cavs up seven with 58 seconds to go, which figured to be enough to make the Cavs safe. However after the free throws, Haliburton hit Siakam with a pass under the basket and he drew a foul from Allen. Siakam missed both free throws, but Nesmith flew in from the top of the key and finished a ferocious tip-dunk through contact from Mitchell, the latest in a series of his game-changing displays of athleticism in these playoffs. "I expect nothing less from him," Turner said. "He makes plays like that all the time. People don't really watch us play, so this might be a shock to some people, but that's the way Aaron Nesmith plays basketball." Nesmith also gets himself in people's way on defense and withstands hard contact, and he did that on the ensuing possession when he trapped Mitchell and in his attempt to stay tough with the basketball, Mitchell swung his elbow and hit Nesmith in the head with one of them to give the Pacers the ball back down five with 46 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Siakam drove from the left elbow for a layup to make it a three-point game with 27.5 seconds to go. The Cavs called timeout to advance the ball, but they didn't have another timeout remaining which put them in bind when the Pacers had everyone covered on the inbound. Strus took a risk by throwing a high pass in the direction of guard Ty Jerome but Nembhard — who had eight turnovers in the game but also had a key steal in the win over the Bucks jumped in front of it to pick if off to give the Pacers the ball with 27.5 seconds to for the possession that would ultimately end in Haliburton's game-winning 3. "We weren't really trying to foul right away," Nembhard said. "I was just trying to make a play on the ball. They lobbed it up and I just tried to get around him." Said Haliburton: "It was a total team effort. There are so many plays that lead up to that shot." But someone still has to take the shot, and despite all of the ups and downs from this season for Haliburton and despite all the Cavs did to slow him down on Tuesday, he still stepped up to be the one to take it. As usual, the Cavs hit the Pacers with every possible brand of defense and plenty of faceguarding to keep the ball out of his hands. He had just one field goal attempt and zero assists in the first quarter. He hit a 3 and a running bank shot in the second quarter but didn't get a field goal at all in the third quarter. "They made an effort to cut off his bloodflow," Carlisle said. "I mean, really. They were making it hard. They were hitting him and they were doing physical things and they had set a tone. It was difficult to get assists, it was difficult to catch the ball let alone get assists or score." But in the fourth quarter and in particular in the final two minutes he got a few chance to drive to the rim for layups and he ended up with 11 points in the fourth quarter to finish with 19 for the game. His intent on the last possession was to go to the rim, and he did but he was fouled by Ty Jerome and couldn't get a good shot off. The Pacers still had time to make both free throws and foul and he didn't seem to be missing the second shot on purpose, but doing so worked in his favor. As it gave him a chance to win the game. "I was pissed I missed the layup," Haliburton said. "I lost the ball. If I would've just held on the ball it would've been an and-1 and we would've tied the game. It's funny how it works out sometimes. The ball came off and I jumped to grab it. I was gonna shoot the floater right there. I kinda was looking around, but I just wanted to get out to the top. I just saw me and Ty Jerome at the top of the key. I had space. I felt comfortable there and I knocked it down." And he found himself in a position he has many times in this and other years, striking a pose just before being swarmed by teammates. In this case he told the world, yet again, that his team has "marbles." "He enjoys the moments like you just saw," Turner said. "He wants the ball in his hands. There's a lot of guys I've seen and guys I've played with who don't necessarily want to take that shot, who don't necessarily want to be in the mix right there. He relishes those moments and it's just a testament to his work ethic, his mental toughness, his mentality. Quite frankly, that boy cold, man. He just does it over and over again."
