Tyrese Haliburtons Flawless Performance Leads Pacers to Brink of NBA Finals
Indianapolis — Following Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Rick Carlisle entered his press conference with a sense of anticipation, knowing he would be asked about the remarkable performance of his point guard. Tyrese Haliburton had just unleashed a 32-point, 12-rebound, 15-assist, zero-turnover triple-double that propelled the Pacers to a 130-121 victory and put them within one win of their first NBA Finals appearance in 25 years. However, the Indiana head coach didn't necessarily enjoy the performance. "I know Ty did some historic stat stuff tonight, and that's great," Carlisle said after Game 4. "But it's tough talking stats when it's such a team thing right now."
- During an 11-minute podium session with reporters, Haliburton used the word "we" 28 times, "our" five times, "as a group" six times, and "play the right way" five times.
- He said "It's about winning" twice, "I just want to impact winning" once, and "How can I impact winning?" once.
- He gave a 52-second, 189-word answer in praise of Bennedict Mathurin, who bounced back from a rough start to the series by exploding for 20 points in 13 minutes off the bench.
- He almost said that it was more exciting to see Triple H in Gainbridge Fieldhouse than it was to see his dad back in the building, but he stopped short.
Carlisle emphasized that while Haliburton's statistics were impressive, he was well aware that all of this far transcended statistics. "Tyrese is a great player, and people realize that," he said. "He happens to do some very impressive statistical things. But he's well aware that all of this is a team effort."
Haliburton's performance was indeed a team effort, with forward Pascal Siakam scoring 30 points on 11-for-21 shooting with five rebounds and forward Aaron Nesmith gutting through a sprained right ankle to play 33 minutes of physical defense on Jalen Brunson while also chipping in 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting. The most unbelievable part was Haliburton's lack of turnovers — he now has a 44-to-6 assist-to-turnover ratio in 153 minutes in these Eastern Conference Finals.
Nesmith described Haliburton as "a special player" who does what the team needs him to do every night. With Haliburton setting the pace and leading by example, the Pacers were off to a strong start in Game 4, scoring 43 points in the first quarter and continuing their momentum throughout the game.
