Magic Johnson believes Tyrese Haliburton needs to do more despite leading the Indiana Pacers to victory in Game 3 of the 2025 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Despite being the underdogs in almost every series throughout their unexpected postseason run, the Pacers made it all the way to the NBA Finals and are now just two wins away from securing a coveted championship.
While Haliburton’s impact on the team cannot be denied, Johnson revealed that the Pacers’ star would have to do more to help his team get two more wins.
Magic Johnson Wants Tyrese Haliburton To Facilitate and Score Consistently
Haliburton was already viewed by many as one of the top guards in the league and acknowledged for his elite facilitating abilities throughout this season. Although he has hit multiple game-winning shots in his first deep playoff run, his lack of consistency in scoring forced Johnson to call him out. The former NBA star and Lakers legend made his feelings clear during a recent episode of “First Take.”
“You can’t just have 15 assists and 12 points or 15 points. That’s not enough. You gotta score in this series. You gotta remember that this is the highest scoring team. OKC is the highest-scoring team in the league. So you have to personally, Haliburton, come out and say ‘I got to get my assists but also I got to score.’ I had to do that against the Celtics. I couldn’t just have 20 assists. I had to have 25-30 points for us to beat them and I was able to do that.
.@MagicJohnson says Tyrese Haliburton needs to “understand what he has to do to help the Pacers beat OKC” 👀
“You can’t just have 15 assists and 12 points. … You gotta score in this series.” pic.twitter.com/CqMtpMswyW
— First Take (@FirstTake) June 12, 2025
“So now lets concentrate on Game 4. What happened last night you gotta take that into Game 4…Keep that pressure on them because you gotta wear them down…And the last thing he gotta understand, if you not tough mentally they gonna eat you up in this league. So come on Haliburton, you got to be mentally tougher than that. You got a great coach…Rick knows what he’s doing. Great game plan. Now we gonna find out a lot about OKC in Game 4.”
Haliburton scored 14 points in Game 1, 17 points in Game 2, and 22 points in Game 3. While those numbers are quite decent for a young star making his first-ever NBA Finals appearance, they do not really indicate that he is a dynamic scorer or superstar, especially when compared to the numbers Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has put up in the Finals.
In any case, fans were fairly conflicted after hearing Johnson’s stance on this subject. Some agreed that Haliburton is too passive and focuses on getting his team involved, while others complimented the Pacers star for playing the “right way” and putting the team’s success ahead of his own. Game 4 will reveal if Haliburton heard Johnson’s message to him.
