4 Biggest takeaways from Indiana Pacers impressive In-Season Tournament run

2. Tyrese Haliburton is a bonafaide star

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the tournament was the sensational play of Tyrese Haliburton in basically every game. Before the tournament, plenty of people were skeptical of Haliburton, acknowledging his impressive play up to that point but questioning if he could keep it up on the big stage.

To the surprise of some and the pleasure of Pacers fans, Haliburton seemed to be built for the bright lights from day 1, as he scored and assisted his way to a strong In-Season Tournament MVP case, even with the eventual finals loss.

While the stats do not tell the whole story, they certainly tell part of it. In six tournament games before the finals, Haliburton averaged 27.8 points, 13.7 assists, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game on 51.8% from the field and 44.6% from downtown.

What's even more impressive is that he did this while averaging only 1.8 turnovers per game, including three games where he dished out 13+ assists and had no turnovers to speak of. In fact, the three turnovers Haliburton had in the tournament finals were the first turnovers he had committed since November 30, an entire week-long span of fantastic passing and no turnovers to speak of.

The stats are one thing, but many will remember Haliburton's fantastic highlights during the tournament, especially the two signature plays in the knockout games. The first signature play for Haliburton came during the quarterfinal matchup against Boston.

With time winding down and Indiana desperately needing some points with the game tied at 105-105, Haliburton converted a miraculous four-point play while being tightly guarded by Jaylen Brown to give Indiana a four-point lead that they would not look back on

As impressive as this was, and as miraculous a win against one of the best teams in basketball was for Indiana, this was not even Haliburton's best play of the tournament. In what will most likely be the signature moment of the season, and Haliburton's career up to this point, Haliburton would once again make a clutch basket at the end of a game.

This one would come the very next game in the semifinal matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks, as Haliburton hit the dagger off a step-back to give Indiana an eight-point lead, all with his father screaming his lungs off in the stands.

This play was made even more spectacular with Tyrese's celebration afterwards, in which he looked at his wrist and stated "I know what time it is," as a way to mock Damian Lillard's signature "Dame Time" celebration, a move that even stoked a reaction from Lillard after the game.

Unfortunately, this game would be the final win Indiana got in the tournament, and Haliburton was mostly kept in check by the smothering Lakers defense in the tournament finals, where he was double-teamed and trapped all game on a night where no player on the Pacers could get hot from the field. Despite this, Haliburton still turned in a good effort, scoring 20 points and dishing out 11 assists on 8/14 from the field.

Despite the loss, Tyrese Haliburton made his name known among the NBA world, and even in the Las Vegas crowd, despite them not being so receptive to any team not named the Lakers.