Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I’m still shocked that Tyrese Haliburton’s shot managed to fall.
In today’s SI:AM:
🏎️ Pacers’ latest comeback
🏈 Jim Irsay dies at 65
⚾ Boras on Soto’s struggles
Instant classic at MSG
Jalen Brunson may have won the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year award this season, but Tyrese Haliburton is showing that he’s worthy of that title.
As he has repeatedly during this postseason, Haliburton came up in the clutch in the Indiana Pacers’ Game 1 win over the New York Knicks last night, hitting an instantly iconic buzzer beater to force overtime and allow the Pacers to take a 1–0 series lead.
It was an epic collapse for the Knicks, who led by 14 points as late as the 2:40 mark of the fourth quarter. Indiana then went on a 20–6 run to tie the game and send it to OT. The real hero was Aaron Nesmith, who hit four threes in the final two minutes to key the comeback. Nesmith had 20 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and was 6-of-7 from three.
But it was Haliburton who made the most memorable play. With seven seconds left and the Pacers trailing 125–123, Haliburton took the ball on the opposite baseline and made a bee line for the basket. He shook free of Mikal Bridges, New York’s defensive stopper, but elite shot blocker Mitchell Robinson was in the paint to thwart a layup attempt. So Haliburton reversed course and retreated to the three-point line to fire up a jumper. The buzzer sounded while Haliburton’s high-arcing shot bounced off the back of the rim and shot straight up in the air. It felt like an eternity before the ball came back down and went through the hoop. The excruciating wait to see if the shot would fall was reminiscent of Kawhi Leonard’s buzzer beater in Game 7 of the 2019 Eastern Conference finals.
Haliburton, believing he had just won the game, celebrated by mimicking Reggie Miller’s classic choke gesture. But his toe was clearly on the line, and so the shot merely tied the game. It would have been humiliating if the Pacers went on to lose after Haliburton’s aggressive taunt, so he’s fortunate that the Knicks continued to throw away the game in overtime.
The Pacers have made a habit of pulling off improbable comebacks this postseason. They trailed by seven with 35 seconds left in Game 5 of their first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks. They trailed by seven with 48 seconds to go in Game 2 of their second-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. And they trailed by nine in the final minute of last night’s game. Since the 1998 postseason (the first year that play-by-play data is available), NBA teams are a combined 4–1,640 when trailing by at least seven points in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime. The Pacers have accounted for three of those four wins—all in the past month. And they can add another unprecedented accomplishment to the list. With their victory in Game 1, the Pacers became the first team on record to erase a 14-point deficit in the final 2:45 of a playoff game and win. All 994 teams that had previously faced that situation lost.
Haliburton has played a key role in all of those victories. He’s now 5-for-6 on shot attempts to tie the game or take the lead in the final 1:30 of regulation or overtime this postseason. That’s tied for the most made shots under those circumstances by a player in any single postseason. The last player with that many clutch buckets in one playoffs was Kevin Durant in 2012.
Haliburton has been lights-out in the clutch this season. He’s now 9-for-14 in the final 1:30 of regulation or overtime (regardless of the score) after going 2-for-12 in those situations last postseason. His ability to knock down shots when it matters most is a major reason why Indiana is now 6–0 in games this postseason, which have been decided by single digits.
But Haliburton isn’t doing it alone. Nesmith is a dangerous perimeter scoring threat. Pascal Siakam is a fantastic do-it-all forward. Myles Turner is a tremendous rim protector who’s also capable of knocking down threes. Obi Toppin has outrageous athleticism coming off the bench. The Pacers didn’t immediately seem like a title contender after a 50–32 regular season, but their ability to erase any deficit in a flash has them well on their way to their first NBA championship.
The best of Sports Illustrated
- Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay passed away on Wednesday. Albert Breer explores how his love of football and classic rock left an impression on those who knew him.
- Breer was in Minnesota for the NFL Owners meeting, where the Philadelphia Eagles kept their signature play, the Tush Push, as owners voted down a proposal to remove the play.
- Tom Verducci spoke with Juan Soto’s agent, Scott Boras, about what might be behind the star slugger’s so-so start with the Mets.
- Gilberto Manzano sat down with Saints rookie quarterback Tyler Shough to discuss the draft process, the three degrees he earned while playing seven years of college football, and more.
- Manzano also ranked the five most likely candidates for the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year.
- Daniel Flick predicted which member of each NFL team’s draft class will have the best rookie season.
- Bubba Watson supports LIV Golf’s more rigid regulation rules, saying it boosts competition and opens doors for new talent, writes John Schwarb.
The top five…
… things I saw last night:
5. Adolis García’s diving catch in right.
4. Bo Naylor’s clutch game-tying double with the Guardians down to their final strike. The Twins went on to win, though, on a walk-off double by Kody Clemens that barely escaped the reach of center fielder Ángel Martínez.
3. Reggie Miller’s reaction to Tyrese Haliburton’s choke gesture.
2. Matt Duchene’s patient goal to give the Stars the lead. Dallas trailed 3–1 after two periods but scored five unanswered goals in the third to win Game 1 over the Oilers.
1. Jasson Domínguez’s upper-deck walk-off homer to give the Yankees the win over the Rangers.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | Tyrese Haliburton Comes Up Clutch Again in Another Pacers Comeback.