Tyrese Haliburton isn’t fazed by outside noise as he leads the Indiana Pacers deeper into the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
Following his 31-point performance in a 114-105 Game 5 win over the No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers, Haliburton addressed growing public criticism during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, saying, via HoopsHype, “Everybody has critics. You have critics on your show. I have critics in what I do. Jesus had critics. We all got critics.”
The fourth-seeded Pacers advanced to their first Eastern Conference Finals since 2014 by winning three road games at Rocket Arena—a feat they hadn’t achieved in a playoff series since 2005.
Indiana stormed back from a 19-point deficit, fueled by Haliburton’s five three-pointers in the second quarter, cutting Cleveland’s early lead to just four by halftime.
LeBron James took to social media after the game, praising the Pacers guard on X with: “Hali fkn hooping!!!! Where the lames who said he was overrated??!! Quiet as hell. That boy NICE and even more someone everyone would love to play with!”
Haliburton confirmed the two have maintained communication since playing together for Team USA. “Yeah, the Bron thing was super, super cool. We texted back and forth last night,” he said.
Beyond personal validation, Haliburton emphasized his approach to the game: “I feel like I’m a true pass-first point guard. I just try to play the game the right way, man. I want to play the right way, and I want to win.”
He added, “Bron said people would want to play with me. Yeah—if we’re winning, I’m sure people would love to play alongside me.”
In his fifth NBA season, Haliburton averaged 18.6 points and 9.2 assists while shooting 38.8% from deep. In this year’s playoffs he’s averaging 17.2 points and 9.3 assists per game.
The Pacers now await the winner between the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks. New York leads that series 3-2.
Indiana, which finished the regular season 50-32, is chasing its first Finals appearance in 25 years.
