Sunday featured a resounding victory for the Indiana Pacers to open up their first-round series with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Indiana kept pace with the top seed in the Eastern Conference until the fourth quarter, when they slammed the door shut on Donovan Mitchell and company.
Once again, the national television audience was treated to a spectaular performance from Tyrese Haliburton. He poured in 22 points and 13 assists while committing just one turnover in the contest. It was a stark reminder for Cleveland of just what they are up against in this series.
Plenty have doubted Haliburton over the years. But it seemed that perhaps, after Indiana's incredible run to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, many of those doubters were ready to stop talking. Clearly, the Pacers had proven they are among the elites of the East.
And many of the critics probably did go into hiding. But when Haliburton struggled to begin the 2024-25 season, it was open season for the haters once again. Those that claimed Tyrese wasn't a real superstar and that the Pacers had a fluke run to the conference finals were empowered to speak out once again.
Haliburton proved he is approaching superstar status
To be quite honest, it wasn't a pretty sight for much of the early part of the season for Pacers fans. But once the calendar hit 2025, a switch seemed to flip. This is a deep roster filled with high-level role players. But Indiana's mid-season spark was ignited at least in part by Tyrese Haliburton's superstar-level play.
The Pacers went from below .500 on Jan. 2 to rattling off six straight wins, the final of which coming against none other than the Cavaliers. All throughout the second half of the regular season and then into the playoffs, Haliburton has been proving that he is one of the best offensive players in basketball today.
Against Cleveland on Sunday, he recorded all 13 of his assists before committing his singular turnover. He has the Pacers in perfect to position to spring what would have previously been thought an unthinkable upset and take down the 64-win Cavaliers in the semifinals.
So many have written off this Pacers team due to their disbelief in Haliburton as one of the biggest stars in the East. Well, if it weren't obvious before the playoffs began, it should be clear now that Hali is a total game-changer and is well on his way to playing spoiler against the only team in the conference to have a better regular season than the Boston Celtics.
The fact that the Pacers were the 2024 champions' toughest challenge in the playoffs should not be something that's hard to understand by now. Indiana has a legitimate chance to go to back-to-back conference finals, and maybe even further than that. And they would not be in this spot without the generational point guard skills of Haliburton.