For the second time in just one week, Tyrese Haliburton took over late in the fourth quarter to steal a game that the Pacers had no business winning.
With just 57.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter of Game 2, the Cavs were given a 95.5 percent chance of winning from ESPN's win probability calculator. The Pacers trailed 119-112 at this point, which was when Haliburton would go on to score eight unanswered points and hit the game-winner with just a second left.
This wasn't the first time it happened, as Haliburton faced a similar situation in Game 5 of their first-round clash with the Bucks last week. That time, the Bucks had a 97.9 percent chance of winning up seven with 39 seconds left in overtime. Tyrese scored eight straight again to hit the game-winning layup and clinch the series.
Haliburton's scoring surge against the Cavs was just one day short of the 30th anniversary of when Pacers legend Reggie Miller scored eight points in just nine seconds to rally an iconic Game 1 comeback against the Knicks.
need 8 points? we got it covered 🥶 pic.twitter.com/3HBvfr4KDy
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 7, 2025
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Historical implications of Haliburton's recent performances
Tuesday night was just the third time in the play-by-play era that a team overcame a seven-point deficit in the last minutes of a game.
Remarkably, two out of the three times it happened were in the last week, with the additional third game being played in the 2014 playoffs.
Three teams have come back from 7+ points down in the final minute of playoff games in the play-by-play era.
— NBA (@NBA) May 7, 2025
Two of those three teams are the Pacers, this season 🤯
May 13, 2014: Thunder over Clippers
April 29, 2025: Pacers over Bucks
May 6, 2025: Pacers over Cavs https://t.co/pcrFczZerY pic.twitter.com/fYzDuPJ5vl
MORE: Cavs robbed by obvious missed call on Aaron Nesmith's putback dunk for Pacers
Is Tyrese Haliburton on his way to cementing himself as a Pacers legend?
It's probably too early to call Haliburton a "Pacers legend," but we have seen some history in the last week that even the greats haven't achieved.
The Pacers find themselves up 2-0 on a talented Cavs team missing Darius Garland and Evan Mobley. If Haliburton can continue to be a leader who comes up in these big moments when his team needs him most, his status will continue to rise.
Any player is doing something right when they put their name alongside the likes of an all-time great like Reggie Miller.
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