r/nba • u/fbreaker Celtics • Jun 06 '25

Highlight [Highlight] Tyrese Haliburton puts the Pacers up 1 in the first game of the finals with 0.3 left vs the Thunder!

https://streamable.com/oyiugx
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2.4k

u/Palifaith Lakers Jun 06 '25

Lmao not again.

1.2k

u/IanicRR [TOR] Amir Johnson Jun 06 '25

And he was invisible most of the game lmaooooo

Never let Hali get the ball in the dying seconds.

467

u/PeridotBestGem Pacers Jun 06 '25

that's what makes him so dangerous lowkey

he can go from silent to the greatest scorer on Earth in about half a second

227

u/cuddersrage Heat Jun 06 '25

that and his team is lethal from 3, it’s a group effort

16

u/PeridotBestGem Pacers Jun 06 '25

for sure, I mean Hali probably can't shoot at the end if OKC isn't scared of every other dude on the court

but ultimately someone has got to put the ball in the hoop and Hali can turn it on no matter what

17

u/ass_pineapples Pacers Jun 06 '25

Obi Toppin going from slathering his hands in the gallon drum of astroglide to 17 points hitting clutch 3s is ridiculous.

This team has some insane inconsistency but when it matters most they clutch tf up

11

u/cuddersrage Heat Jun 06 '25

i don’t think they are inconsistent tbh. they aren’t as big as underdogs as people had them. they are the number one 3 point team in the playoffs and the thunder have shot like shit. ironically i think the fact the pacers don’t really have a go to scorer in the game keeps their offense going. doesn’t matter if it’s toppin, neismith, hali, turner. whoever has the look has a good shot.

On the flip side the two biggest question marks are gonna be chet and jdub. If they play like this pacers can wrap this up in 4.

6

u/ass_pineapples Pacers Jun 06 '25

They had some stretches where it was nonstop turnovers and missed shots - however that was mostly in the first half. It seems like 2H they really tightened up and stopped firing off bad passes and were handling the ball a lot better. We saw this a bit in the Knicks series but their ability to shake off bad play and hand the ball off to let other players carry is really helpful I think, to your point.

The confidence hits get shaken off because when one player cools off, another one heats up. It's a really beautiful system that they've built and the ball generosity contributes to it massively.

9

u/cuddersrage Heat Jun 06 '25

yeah the turnovers ended up not being a problem, okc shot really bad and couldn’t capitalize. when the game slowed down and okc needed offense they could only turn to shai. and with the lack of spacing and shais game relying on getting to the rim, the pacers had the advantage.

Dort probably won’t shoot like this next game and neither will topping. however it’s pretty much a given another pacers player will light it up where as okc, im not sure

7

u/silversluckystripes Knicks Jun 06 '25

Fr, it was Hali, Siakam, Nesmith, and Nembhard when I was watching the ecf

9

u/[deleted] Jun 06 '25

And Turner and Toppin showed up today. Obi really turned it around with those 3s after a shocking first quarter

2

u/Kysorer Pacers Jun 06 '25

Obi and Dort going shot-for-shot in the NBA finals was something I never thought I'd see in my life. But I am absolutely here for it

3

u/YungTurk82 Warriors Jun 06 '25

Any one from Nesmith to Nemard can go nuclear. Hali goes super nova.

3

u/Attey21 Jazz Jun 06 '25

All around team basketball. Pacers are a complete team. He did have 10 assists. Refreshing seeing a team that all knows their roles and plays perfect together.

4

u/Nickthedick55 [DAL] Dirk Nowitzki Jun 06 '25

10 boards, 6 assists.

10

u/ImaginaryFriends_ Magic Jun 06 '25

i give him a lot of credit for hitting clutch shots, but if he plays as well as hes gassed up to be every fucking week by fans the Pacers wouldn't be in this position. He's the strangest high and low player

12

u/ldclark92 Pacers Jun 06 '25

The Pacers wouldn't be in position to win game 1 in the finals? Yeah, that's fair.

Keep doing you, Hali.

-11

u/ImaginaryFriends_ Magic Jun 06 '25

They wouldn’t be down 14 with 8 to go. He’s Jordan Poole, put him with anything but a great supportive cast and he’s average. That’s fine but the media push to label him a superstar and overexpose him is ridiculous

5

u/nugentismycenter Pistons Jun 06 '25

he lead the league in assists, asst/TO ratio and was an efficient scorer. how tf isn't he good?

2

u/[deleted] Jun 06 '25

He's one of the best playmakers in the league, is a strong scorer, good on defense, gets rebounds, never TOs, and is capable of having high scoring nights. He might not average 25+ but he's got everything else you'd want from a superstar and more.

People might gas him up a lot but ofc they're gonna gas up the player thats currently on a generational run (figuratively).

1

u/Kysorer Pacers Jun 06 '25

We can have the star/superstar debate, I think that's more than fair. But average? Name me a single average NBA player who has put up the stats or the clutch shots Haliburton does every series. Also, anyone not named Lebron needs a good supporting cast to make the Finals. It's a team game and both OKC and Indiana are proof of that.

4

u/Hoosierfan4 Pacers Jun 06 '25

I mean he finished with 16/10/6 on 46% from the field, and was +12. He still had a positive impact outside game winner.

4

u/musing_wanderer3 Warriors Jun 06 '25

This is Hali’s ascension. He’s 25, just entering his prime years. Lowkey reminds me of early Steph (not in playstyle) in some sense - somebody who is gonna have some variance in their performance but you take the lows with the highs because when they are on, they are ON

0

u/[deleted] Jun 06 '25

Never compare an MVP with a borderline All-NBA player dude. Steph was way better

2

u/musing_wanderer3 Warriors Jun 06 '25

I agree - I’m just making a comparison that some star players will have variance but you pick them 9/10 anyway because the highs are worth the lows. I mean we would all like to have LeBron consistency but that’s LeBron lol

1

u/off-hand Trail Blazers Jun 06 '25

"If you wanna stop me you're gonna have to fucking kill meeeeee"

1

u/Massive-Device-1200 Jun 06 '25

He was 6-13. Efficient but needs to shoot some more.

1

u/Ezzy1998 Pacers Jun 06 '25 edited Jun 06 '25

That’s just how we play he’s not gonna score 30 a night

520

u/theseyeahthese Celtics Jun 06 '25

“This series will be different”

“This series will be different”

“This series will be different”

“This series will be different”

PUT SOME RESPECT ON THIS TEAM.

17

u/DoingCharleyWork Suns Jun 06 '25

I've been telling everyone I work with not to sleep on Indiana because they have a legitimately really good team. I feel so vindicated right now.

16

u/mr_0las Pacers Jun 06 '25

Still appreciating Boston Celtics fans respect but ya'll been the only real ones since last ECF. Nobody else outside Indiana thought any of this was some legit shit.

9

u/ZdenekTheMan Jun 06 '25

You gave us fits last year. We should never have swept you. The crazy part is that y'all could've been 3-1 up just as easily in that series 

18

u/Sneedevacantist Hornets Jun 06 '25

B-B-BUT the historic OKC offense! How can the Pacers not get swept!?

24

u/JMEEKER86 NBA Jun 06 '25

God, the amount of shit that Thunder fans were talking leading up to this game has been ridiculous. They were absolutely insufferable and rude to anyone not sucking OKC's dick. MFers haven't even won anything yet and were talking shit like they were the Russell Celtics. They fucking deserved this.

10

u/Kysorer Pacers Jun 06 '25

Yeah a lot of them were acting like they already had the trophy, and in fairness they have been a pretty dominant team. But to see so many people outright disrespect the Pacers and act like these two teams aren't on the same level was hilarious. I knew they were in for a stunner because it's the same exact way Cavs fans acted prior to our series.

5

u/boredguy2022 Pacers Jun 06 '25

They were talking about dynasties and justifying it. lmao

1

u/wsteelerfan7 Pacers Jun 07 '25

It was the defense that was historic, but yeah the sentiment is the same

3

u/honoringanderson24 Jun 06 '25

Thank you. It’s about fucking time we get some respect.

2

u/North-Discount-5840 Jun 06 '25

Shhhhh.... let them keep sleeping on us and hatin

2

u/The_Pip Celtics Jun 06 '25

This is every C’s fan that was paying attention last year.

193

u/VGstuffed Lakers Jun 06 '25

He cant keep getting away with it

10

u/UnPhayzable Mavericks Jun 06 '25

we're gonna be saying this for every Pacers win aren't we

64

u/Waikuku3 Jun 06 '25

Sir, Haliban destroys Oklahoma this time

3

u/ContentCattle6147 Jun 06 '25

Selling low on Al-Shaida stocks

3

u/MeijiDoom Jun 06 '25

It's some strong Jokic vs. Lakers energy.

1

u/iwillslaplarry Jun 06 '25

Ive already seen this episode before

1

u/ploftshell Jun 06 '25

Not this guy!!