The Indiana Pacers have now gone up 2-1 in the 2025 NBA Finals — a scenario that not too many expected as they believed that the Oklahoma City Thunder would simply steamroll the opposition en route to winning the NBA championship. In Game 3, many stepped up for the Pacers, with Tyrese Haliburton putting up another signature playoff game by dropping 22 points, nine rebounds, and 11 assists — including the go-ahead triple that gave Indiana a fourth-quarter lead they wouldn’t relinquish in their 116-107 victory over the Thunder.
Haliburton made a bit of headlines in the aftermath of Game 2 for being passive, particularly in the first half. He scored just three points on 1-5 shooting as the Pacers went down by double digits yet again, and a few pundits tore into him as a result. But as has been the case throughout this year’s playoffs, Haliburton and the Pacers could scarcely care about what these talking heads think of them.
“I think the commentary is going to be what it is. Most of the time, the talking heads on the major platforms, I couldn’t care less, honestly. Like, what do they really know about basketball,” Haliburton said in his Game 3 postgame presser, via Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints.
“Most of the time, the talking heads on the platforms… I couldn’t care less, honestly. Like, what do they really know about basketball… The commentary is what it is at this point. We’re in the NBA Finals, two wins way from an NBA Championship.”
Tyrese Haliburton on critics of… pic.twitter.com/2RXkWzKSlq
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Tyrese Haliburton, Pacers are two wins away from a championship
Haliburton is the Pacers’ best player; when he’s at his best, his team usually comes out on top. And it all starts with his insatiable drive to get better. He uses all the criticisms levied towards him as fuel to keep on working harder, and suffice to say, it’s been working like a charm.
“I think just seeing where I can be better is the most important thing and having that reflection of myself,” Haliburton added.
Haliburton can fill up the scoring column, but that’s not the strongest suit of his game. He looks to make his teammates better by making the right play on every possession, and sometimes, this results in the kind of play that some perceive as passive. But the Pacers star knows that forcing the issue won’t do his team any good, as playing unselfish basketball is what got them this far in the first place.
At the end of the day, the Pacers deserve all the credit in the world for staying true to themselves, shutting down all the outside noise. It’s clearly been working, and they now need to win just two more games to win a title.
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