One week after ending the Bucks’ season with a series-winning shot in the final seconds of Game 5, Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton played the hero again on Tuesday vs. Cleveland. Haliburton’s three-pointer with 1.1 seconds left on the clock completed an improbable comeback for the Pacers, who were down by seven points with 50 seconds to play and now have a 2-0 series lead as they head back home.
“He enjoys the moments,” teammate Myles Turner said, per Jamal Collier of ESPN. “He wants the ball in his hands. There’s a lot of guys I’ve seen, even guys I’ve played with, that doesn’t necessarily want to take that shot or doesn’t necessarily want to be in the mix right there, but he relishes in those moments. It’s just a testament as to his work ethic, his mental toughness, his mentality. Quite frankly — that boy cold, man.”
As Jared Weiss of The Athletic writes, Haliburton has always taken pride in his mental toughness and has made a habit of reading his mentions on social media when he’s not playing well, using criticism from online trolls as fuel to start playing better. However, the Pacers star recently admitted that he hit a low point last fall when he was dwelling on a slow start to the 2024/25 season that included a scoreless outing vs. New York.
“I (was) struggling to look at myself in the mirror. I’m struggling to show up to work and get to the gym. I’m trying to avoid coming to work,” said Haliburton, adding that he stopped seeking out the online criticism that typically motivated him. “… I didn’t want to tackle things head-on. I didn’t want to look at myself in the mirror. I was just trying to almost run from the spotlight. I’ve always been a guy who pushed into that, and I love being in that, so it was a weird feeling. I’ve never felt that insecurity before, and that was a reality check for me.”
According to Haliburton, who told Weiss he has gone to therapy for the last couple years, a candid conversation with trainer Drew Hanlen helped get him back on the right track and he started feeling more like himself after putting up 35 points and 14 assists in a revenge game vs. the Knicks a few weeks into the season.
Haliburton added that good conversations and strong relationships with fellow NBA stars like Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum have helped keep him in the right headspace and ensured he was unfazed when he was voted the NBA’s most overrated player last month in a player poll conducted by The Athletic.
“At some point, worrying about what my peers think only holds so much weight. I think my peers (whom) I really respect, that changes things,” Haliburton said. “For that poll, there’s no names to faces, it’s all anonymous. Having relationships with guys like Jayson and Joel, who are guys that I know at the top of the game, them being honest with me, that’s important. I respect their opinions more than anybody.”
Here’s more from around the Central:
- While Haliburton has been the engine driving the Pacers‘ playoff success so far, his backcourt partner Andrew Nembhard has been showing why he shouldn’t be overlooked, according to Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (subscription required) and Joe Vardon of The Athletic. A strong perimeter defender, Nembhard has been giving Indiana a major offensive boost as well, scoring 23 points in Game 1 vs. Cleveland and handing out 13 assists in Game 2. The team is a +31 in his 73 minutes for the series so far.
- Already missing three key players (Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and De’Andre Hunter) due to injuries on Tuesday, the Cavaliers were also getting a “banged-up” version of star guard Donovan Mitchell, who is playing through a calf strain, as Vardon writes for The Athletic. Mitchell nearly led Cleveland to a victory anyway, with 48 points and nine assists in 36 minutes, but he and the Cavs’ other regulars ran out of gas and blew a late lead in the game’s final moments. “I loved how we competed,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said after the loss, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required). “We played our basketball, our identity. I thought we outplayed them. That’s the shame of this game. With fatigue comes decision-making. We had some poor decision-making plays at the rim, turnovers, a couple bad decisions. That was part of the collapse.”
- Discussing the draft, Pistons general manager Trajan Langdon suggested the pool of available talent isn’t as deep as it might otherwise be due to the NIL benefits that have made college prospects more inclined to stay in school. Armed with only the No. 37 overall pick this year, Langdon suggested the team will consider trading up if there’s “a player we really like” and the cost isn’t prohibitive (Twitter links via Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press).
- Arguing that it’s time for the Bulls to begin “hunting for big trades,” Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune (subscription required) evaluates whether or not the team could realistically make a play for Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo if he becomes available. Poe concludes that Chicago is a long shot for Antetokounmpo, but says the team could and should be ready to explore pursuing other stars who reach the trade block.
What an unbelievable W for indy. pacers get no respect from nobody. 1 of the craziest playoff gms ever . Cavs were in control the entire gm. Refs did everything
Possible to stop indy from winning. Mitchell took as many ft’s as entire pacers tm. Somehow they clawed their way back late in the gm. Excellent D final minute. Drawing
Offensive foul, stealing inbounds, they missed THREE ft’s but got the rebounds, and then tyrese “overrated” haliburton. He is a SUPERSTAR. Legit SUPERSTAR. I’ve been sayin for months its gonna be indy-boston rematch. “But but but donovan is superman. Haliburton is overrated. They wont win. Never ever ever”
See you in boston, you uneducated inexperienced silly little children
Take a deep breath and exhale
Unbelievable? The Cavs were down 2 starters and a key bench player. Still, they only lost because Jerome couldn’t hit a shot all night.
Pacers are a much superior team than Cleveland no question about it. They will sweep the overrated team but I still think the Celtics are the best team in the East. Though I would love to see pacers take them
No question about it? No, no I in fact do have a question. If the Pacers are such a superior team then why did they win by only 1 point when the lesser team is down two starters, their 6th man and their best scorer is hobbled?
Oh, got it. Close wins don’t count if the other team is missing players. Next thing you know, we’ll be taking away championships because someone had a sprained ankle. Maybe they should put an asterisk on the scoreboard?
A win is a win doesn’t matter by how many points. Cleveland was down only one starter in game 1 and lost. It doesn’t matter how you win as long as you do. Good teams do that. Others get number one seeds and go home early
Credit to Pacers staff with how they played and developed Nembhard.
Hali absolutely sons the cavs. Cavs like the hawks of the past with Millsap, Teague and Horford…#1 seed but no finals.
The Bulls shouldn’t be dumping any assets they have for a superstar player. Good to see that the Sun Times still hires idiots and then has the gall to try and make you pay to read the idiocy. The Bulls should be making smart draft picks and trading off people and acquiring more assets and getting some Cap space before even thinking about adding and then they should be getting reasonable young talent to fill the Cap Space. Anything else would be really dumb. I didn’t think anyone was dumber than Cowley ….. But here we are.
Keep this assets (decent asset for me) and be bottom 4 team,and making smart draft? Look like u believe with akme. I dont. He cant made smart draft.jokic is anomali.polly williams over haliburton (we need pg at that time,and we traded lonzo,we knew the next story),drafting a cheerleader name dallen terry over walker kessler (we need big at that time). There are severall good HCs but akme kept billy. I think someone is dumber than cowley.
If you have ever read anything I’ve written you’d know I have as much faith in AKME as I do in The Orange Blowhole. So none. I said that’s what the Bulls should do. But since I can’t fire them I wish hard.
Agreed. Many of the contracts on the Bull’s roster will fall off after next season.
So don’t get anything for them huh? Really? Anything is better than nothing. They’re assets. Not high end ones but still assets. Wow
I agree with you. This summer or at next season’s trade deadline, the Bulls should see that can be received for the expiring contracts, Vucevic, Huerter, Jevon Carter, Zach Collins. Actually, the Buls will get zero for Jevon Carter. Huerter and Collins are worth more to the Bulls than what the Bulls would receive in a trade. Vucevic is the only sure trade possibility.
Carter could go to a contender whose lead guard is out with injury, especially if the Bulls take back a bad contract into their trade exception and get a pick for their trouble. Huerter has to recoup value but shooters are always in demand. Houston, for example, could use him. The so-called ‘bigs’ are the least tradeable as they don’t have skills that NBA bigs need today.
My bad,i didnt read your nick. Both of us really upset with them. Yeah, all we can do is hope some miracle.