The triple-double from Tyrese Haliburton punches the Pacers’ ticket to the NBA In-Season Tournament semifinal.
In the closing minutes of Monday’s 122-112 victory over the Boston Celtics, Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers showed off their strength, moving on to the Eastern Conference semifinal of the NBA’s In-Season Tournament.
In the victory, Haliburton recorded his first triple-double of the season with 26 points, 13 assists, and 10 rebounds. With 1:33 remaining, the 23-year-old All-Star converted a crucial and-1 into a four-point play following a three-pointer. From then on, the Pacers maintained their momentum.
Haliburton concurred that Monday’s game was the most significant of his career and stated that the Pacers “expectation is to win” the tournament.
“We’re a young, competitive team that wants to win every single night. We want to win, so while we’re happy to be there, we’re not simply taking it easy,” he continued.
On Thursday in Las Vegas, Indiana, the No. 2 seed in the East, will take on the victor of Tuesday’s quarterfinal between the No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks and the No. 4 New York Knicks. Although the Pacers were 4-0 in group play, Boston, the betting favorites going into Monday’s game, was the No. 3 seed and leads the Eastern Conference.
In the back-and-forth game, Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scored thirty points, with Tatum scoring thirty and Brown scoring thirty, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Indiana’s late surge.
Delivering during NBA prime time, Haliburton
With its In-Season Tournament, the NBA aimed to generate more excitement for the start of the season, and boy, how Haliburton treated the league on Monday. This was about the casual fan, who might not have known what to make of these insanely colorful courts and might have turned on TNT on Monday night, rather than the die-hard hoops enthusiast who watches League Pass and “CrunchTime” every night. They witnessed the first-ever triple-double from Haliburton, who took over the game in the second half and rallied the Pacers from a nine-point deficit. It will be well worth all the hype if the IST semifinals and finals feature some of the amazing players in this league who don’t often get their chance to shine, like Haliburton.
How the Pacers gained the upper hand
With their defense, the Celtics dominated the first half, but in the third, they gave up control to the Pacers. In the other direction, Indiana’s league-leading offense raced in transition thanks to six turnovers and multiple missed layups by Boston. When it comes to dancing, Haliburton is up to par. He controlled the first few minutes of the third quarter, helping Indiana overcome a seven-point deficit at the half to take an 11-point lead.
By slowing down the game and executing, the Celtics eventually made a comeback. Late in the fourth quarter, there was an exciting back-and-forth between the two teams until Haliburton’s four-point play broke the tie. From there, the Pacers finished it out without any issues. — Staff writer for the Celtics Jay King
Indiana follows through on both ends.
The Pacers’ defensive intensity and shooting efficiency on Monday simply outclassed the Celtics’ skill set, even though they can still make some huge shots when forced to. This revenge game against the team that traded Aaron Nesmith away the previous year featured a huge fourth-quarter performance from Nesmith. Tatum failed to make much progress in his attempts to challenge him in iso.
The Pacers were excellent at defending the ball, which made it difficult for the Celtics offense to operate consistently. Indiana then took advantage of multiple fortunate breaks to score off Celtics deflections on the other end. No matter who the Celtics had guarding the rim, the Pacers were able to get to the hoop because of Haliburton, who was a true superstar in every aspect of the offense. This was a classic playoff victory for a young Pacers team that is displaying a lot of promise.
