Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton: Feels good to win game nobody expected us to win

The Indiana Pacers are going down in NBA lore. Why is that, you ask?

They will now forever be known as the First Team to Advance to the Final Four in the NBA In-Season Tournament. That label comes courtesy of their 122-112 home win over the Boston Celtics on Monday night.

As has usually been the case with the Pacers this season, it truly was a teamwide effort. But it didn’t hurt that point guard Tyrese Haliburton spent the night doing his best Magic Johnson imitation.

Haliburton finished with 26 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds. That, folks, is a man who continues to take his game — and perhaps the Pacers — to another level.

“It feels good,” Haliburton told reporters, via Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “Good to win. Especially in a game when nobody expected us to.”

Buddy Hield added 21 points and went 4-of-6 on 3-pointers, while Myles Turner added 17 points and 10 rebounds. Also, Bennedict Mathurin and Aaron Nesmith added 16 and 14, respectively, off the bench. 

Tyrese Haliburton and the #Pacers are headed to Las Vegas. https://t.co/pUHbiEkk9O

— IndyStarSports (@IndyStarSports) December 5, 2023

Jayson Tatum (32 points) and Jaylen Brown (30) were fantastic for the Celtics — but they just didn’t receive enough consistent help. Indiana may have had something to do with that.

“Very proud of our team,” coach Rick Carlisle said, via Tony East of SI.com. “The third quarter really resurrected where we were… when the building starts rocking… that’s when special things can happen.”

"The expectation is to win…We're excited to be there but we're not just complacent being there. We want to win." 🗣️@StephanieReady caught up with @TyHaliburton22 after advancing to the first-ever In-Season Tournament Semifinals pic.twitter.com/SN9uXrDSbn

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 5, 2023