By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Superstar point guard Tyrese Haliburton exploded in the most perfect time after steering the Indiana Pacers to the next round of the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament.
Facing a well-oiled Boston Celtics squad, Haliburton led the Pacers to a 122-112 victory that helped his team advance to the semifinals of the In-Season Tournament last December 5, 2023.
Haliburton recorded the first triple-double of his young NBA career and wrapped up the quarterfinal duel with 26 points, 13 assists, and 10 rebounds.
Deadlocked at 105-all with only 1:34 remaining in the game, Haliburton put the Pacers on his back after nailing the biggest shot of the game, a four-point play that gave Indiana the much-needed cushion.
After getting the switch that he wanted while also establishing his motion at the top of the key, Haliburton fired a long triple with only five seconds left in the shot clock.
As the ball looped to the hoop, the game referee whistled for a foul after Boston’s Jaylen Brown committed a landing spot foul to Haliburton.
Haliburton’s cold-blooded shot then sucked the life out of the Celtics after the C’s failed to buy a basket in the next minute and could only watch Indiana snowball its way to a momentum-clinching 9-0 run.
After Haliburton’s four-point conversion, a three-pointer from Buddy Hield and a fast-break slam dunk from Aaron Nesmith sealed the deal for Indiana.
Hield was big time down the stretch and nailed several crucial trifectas, ending the game with 21 points built from an impressive 4/6 shooting from downtown.
Myles Turner was also solid from the get-go and chipped in a double-double performance of 17 markers, 10 rebounds, a block, and a steal.
Meanwhile, the Celtics got a combined 62-point performance from the dynamic duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown who scored 32 and 30, respectively, but only two players helped them reach the double-digit mark in scoring.
Boston still missed the services of star power forward Kristaps Porzingis who is nursing a left calf strain and will seek to suit up again in the next match schedule of the Celtics.