Top 6 Tyrese Haliburton moments with Pacers for his 6th birthday

February 18, 2024: 32 points, robbed of MVP as first-time All-Star starter

Remember when I said Haliburton's 18 points in the 2023 All-Star Game was merely an audition and sneak peek of what could come the following year? Well, the following year came, and Haliburton did not disappoint.

Contrary to 2023, where he was voted in as a reserve by coaches, Haliburton was voted into the Eastern Conference starting point guard slot, even getting more votes than Stephen Curry and leading all guards in both conferences by a comfortable margin, the first time since Paul George a Pacer was voted as a starter in the midseason classic.

After Bennedict Mathurin took home the Rising Stars MVP and helped Team Pacers win the Skills Challenge along with Haliburton and Myles Turner, the ball was in Haliburton's court the rest of the way.

After a decent showing in the three-point contest, which ultimately led to a first-round exit, Haliburton had one stop left, which was easily the biggest of the weekend, the All-Star Game. This was his chance to put Indy on the map yet again, with his fans and supporters cheering him on, as well as his father, who has become somewhat of a cult favorite in Indiana.

Fortunately for everyone counting on him, disappointment doesn't seem to be a word in Tyrese Haliburton's dictionary as he more than did his part in giving Indiana a good representative in the game, scoring 32 points and hitting 10 threes to go with seven rebounds and six assists.

Haliburton was everywhere that Sunday night, hitting long-range bombs, sizing up defenders, and even pulling out cult favorite moves, such as the Jason Williams Elbow Pass, much to the delight of those watching.

Unfortunately, despite the fantastic performance, Haliburton was unfortunately not given the All-Star MVP trophy, as that went to Damian Lillard in a hilarious twist of irony. It has to be said that Lillard while scoring 39 points, took 11 more shots than Haliburton and a staggering nine more threes to only reach seven more points.

In addition, Haliburton and Bucks teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo executed something similar to a freeze-out on Haliburton, as Lillard got increasingly more aggressive with his shooting as the game went on, seemingly to steal Haliburton's MVP trophy and a big moment away in a twist of pettiness that may have came from the Pacers beating Milwaukee 4-1 in the season series.

MVP trophy or not, Haliburton more than left his mark on the All-Star Weekend and once again ensured the Indiana Pacers' spot as one of the top young teams in the league and a potential future contender.