Haliburton’s Heroics lead to huge Pacers win
By Tyler Smith
ISL Editor
INDIANAPOLIS — After losing three straight games and facing the Milwaukee Bucks in a pivotal game for playoff seeding, the Indiana Pacers were in need of a little magic on Tuesday night. Insert famous Rob Perez quote here: “It’s always Haliburton.”
Tyrese Haliburton returned to the court after missing the last few games, and he delivered one of the biggest moments the NBA has seen this year. The Pacers trailed by three points in the closing seconds, and it looked like Indy’s hopes at the 4-seed were fading. And then, Haliburton happened:
4-point play:
“Obviously a great feeling, stuff you dream of,” said the star point guard. “I’m thankful my team trusts me to make plays. It’s a lot of fun. I have a lot of fun competing. You guys know the history we have with that team, so it’s good to a win there.”
One night after benching the starting unit, Head Coach Rick Carlisle was clearly pleased with the effort in this one: “What a shot,” Carlisle said. “What a play at the end. And Reggie Miller’s in the building. You’ve got to feel like that gave us a lot of good fortune as well. Really proud of the group. Rough week. Rough setup playing a back to back, but nobody complained and everybody put their head down and played. We had to be very resilient. The shot Tyrese hit, that’s one everybody will be talking about for years.”
For the game, Haliburton had 14 points, 10 assists, and only one turnover. The Pacers are now 18-4 this season when he records a double-double. While the Pacers would love to get home-court advantage in the 1st round of the Playoffs, keeping Haliburton healthy for the Playoffs will still be a top priority.
“I feel really good right now,” Haliburton said. “The rest helped. I’m just trying to take care of myself and I just don’t want it to linger come playoff time.”
Speaking of the Playoffs, Tuesday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse gave the fans a reminder of what a playoff-like atmosphere feels like. You could argue the three biggest current rivals for the Pacers are the Knicks, Bucks, and Pistons. The Pacers are very likely to play one of those three teams in the 1st Round, so get your popcorn ready ahead of time.
As things currently stand, the Pacers, Bucks and Pistons are all tied in the standings, with the 4-5-6 seeds up for grabs. Indy will travel to face Milwaukee this Saturday, (unfortunately on another back-to-back situation), while the Bucks have several challenging games coming up on their schedule. One thing that will be very interesting next month: The Bucks and Pistons square off for back-to-back games to finish the season before the Playoffs begin.
Other notes from Tuesday:
•Pascal Siakam had a monster night with 25 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists.
•While Andrew Nembhard missed some key shots late, he helped to keep Damian Lillard in check (15 points on just 4-for-11 shooting).
•TJ McConnell was questionable to play, but delivered a gutsy performance with 12 points, seven assists, and four steals, while being a +10 while on the court.
The Pacers have 18 games to play before the real fun begins.
