Self-awareness may be Tyrese Haliburton’s greatest attribute. That was obvious at last summer’s Olympics as the 25-year-old All-Star was confined to the Team USA bench.
Instead of hitting out at online fans who kept tabs on Indiana Pacers star’s smiles, high fives and other displays of team spirit to make up for his lack of on-court statistics, Haliburton seized on the chance to dunk on himself. After the US pipped France in the final, Haliburton posted a selfie with his gold medal. “When you ain’t do nun on the group project and still get an A,” he wrote.
Advertisement
This year, however, Haliburton has proved that he’s no joke. His late-game heroics are the main reason why the Indiana Pacers are just two wins from the NBA title. Time and again during these playoffs Haliburton has snatched the Pacers back from what had looked like certain defeat – and with every M Night Shyamalan twist he orchestrates on court, he shows that no moment is ever too big for him.
Where another player might struggle to add one clutch playoff bucket to his highlight reel, Haliburton has made a game-tying or game-winning shot in every round of this year’s postseason – a heady accomplishment only Reggie Miller, Haliburton’s Pacers archetype, can match. In the first round against Milwaukee, Haliburton beat Giannis Antetokounmpo for a layup to steal Game 5 in overtime and close the series. Late in Game 2 of the conference semi-finals versus Cleveland, Haliburton sank a three-pointer off his own missed free-throw to stun the home crowd and take a 2-0 series lead. In the opening game of the conference finals, Haliburton not only bounced in a buzzer-beater three to force overtime against New York. He celebrated by grabbing his neck and reprising Miller’s notorious choking gesture from the 1994 conference finals series, triggering Knicks fans all over again as Miller looked on approvingly. Then, in the Game 1 victory over the Thunder in the NBA finals, the Pacers achieved their only lead when Haliburton hit the game’s last shot with 0.3 seconds left to cap his team’s fifth comeback while trailing by 15 points or…
..
