Through the first two games of the NBA Finals, Tyrese Haliburton looked like a player searching for answers. The Oklahoma City Thunder had swarmed him, throwing multiple defenders his way and daring someone else to beat them. Haliburton didn’t force the issue. He played within the flow. But the chatter grew. Where was the star who carried Indiana through the Eastern Conference gauntlet?
Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton Embraces Stephen Curry Mentality in NBA Finals Game 3 vs. OKC Thunder
The answer came in Game 3, but it started days earlier with film study. Haliburton turned to a master of movement, a player who’s seen every defensive scheme imaginable in NBA icon Stephen Curry.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, Haliburton’s trainer, Drew Hanlen, sent him something to help regain his momentum — a compilation of Curry doing what Curry does: Dodging defenders, bending coverages, and rising above the chaos.
The goal wasn’t to become Curry, but to absorb what makes him so consistently dangerous. On Wednesday night, it showed.
“There were adjustments that had to be made coming into today for me,” Haliburton said after the Pacers’ 116–107 win in Game 3. “I thought I did a better job at that.”
The fourth-year guard scored 22 points, dished out 11 assists, and grabbed nine rebounds — his most complete Finals performance to date. Twelve of those points came in the first half, a clear shift in approach after two games of tentative starts. Haliburton wasn’t just reacting. He was setting the tone.
That’s precisely what fans have watched Curry do for over a decade. Golden State’s superstar has never shied away from the spotlight, but even he admits to bouts of self-doubt.
In a recent CNBC documentary interview, Curry opened up about dealing with impostor syndrome, saying, “You have doubts about yourself… at times, yeah.” Still, he has found ways to thrive, racking up four championships and rewriting the record books in the process.
Steph Curry: “I’m human like everybody, you have doubts about yourself, you have impostor syndrome at times, like you have an idea of…”
Alex Sherman: “You still have impostor syndrome?”
SC: “At times, yeah.”
(via @CNBC)pic.twitter.com/dkujMBid7H
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 2, 2025
Haliburton isn’t Curry, but he’s part of a new generation trying to carry that torch. And he’s proving he belongs. In Game 1 of the Finals, he delivered a buzzer-beater with 0.3 seconds left, becoming the first player to hit a game-winner in the final second of a Finals game since Michael Jordan in 1997.
As noted by Austin Veazey of SI.com‘s Golden State Warriors platform, if you extend it to players who hit a game-winning shot in the final 10 seconds of an NBA Finals game, Haliburton is now in elite company alongside names like Steve Kerr, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Ray Allen, and yes, Curry.
“I think in a series like this, what’s so important is the margins,” Haliburton said. “It’s not necessarily who can make the most shots… It’s taking care of the ball, rebounding, little things like that.”
He’s right. And Indiana has done those little things. From T.J. McConnell’s energy to Bennedict Mathurin’s late-game heroics, the Pacers have embraced the moment. But it’s Haliburton who sets the ceiling. If his balance between scoring and distributing holds, if he continues to channel the fearlessness that defines Curry’s greatness, Indiana may pull off one of the most improbable title runs in NBA history.
“The commentary is what it is at this point,” Haliburton added. “It doesn’t matter … just got to stay with it, put my head down, keep working.”