Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton did it again on Thursday night.
With the Pacers trailing the Oklahoma City Thunder by 15 in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Haliburton sparked Indiana’s rally and then hit the biggest shot of his career — a jumper that gave the Pacers a 111-110 lead with just 0.3 seconds left to earn a 1-0 series lead.
Tyrese Haliburton Explains Why There Wasn’t a Bigger Celebration After His Game-Winner
That phrase — “the biggest shot of Haliburton’s career” — seems to change almost nightly. He’s come up big in crunch time throughout the 2025 postseason and is putting together one of the most clutch playoff runs in league history.
But after Haliburton’s shot went through the net, the Pacers didn’t celebrate as much as some expected — especially in the locker room, where the atmosphere was described as “serious” and “business-like.”
Afterward, Haliburton was asked why the Pacers didn’t celebrate more after staging such a dramatic comeback with a game-winner on the biggest stage.
“What’s the point?” Haliburton told Andscape. “Ain’t nobody expected us to win this [expletive] anyway. So, what’s the point of tripping? Not a person expected us to win not a single series we played in. So, what’s the point of tripping?”
“We are playing with house money, really. We have been playing with house money all playoffs.”
The Pacers are also used to this kind of performance.
They clinched their first-round series with a Game 5 win over Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks. In that game, Haliburton scored Indiana’s final six points to force overtime, then scored the last six points of the extra frame — helping the Pacers rally from a seven-point deficit with just 39 seconds left for a 119-118 victory.
In the second round, Indiana faced the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers. In Game 2, the Pacers trailed by seven with 57.1 seconds left. Haliburton’s step-back 3-pointer gave them a 120-119 win and a 2-0 series lead. They’d go on to beat Cleveland in five games after another comeback in Game 5. Indiana trailed by 19 in the first half but chipped away and eventually closed out the Cavs 114-105.
In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the New York Knicks, the Pacers trailed by 14 with under two minutes left and by nine with under a minute left before forcing overtime. They went on to take the opener 138-135.
“I’ve been through too much of this over the years,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. “We’ve just got to be very much present in the moment and know what this is all about. This is all about keeping poise and at the same time having a high level of aggression.”
The Pacers will be back in Oklahoma City for Game 2 on June 8.
