Tyrese Haliburton Says Pacers Have Big Advantage Over Opponents

The Indiana Pacers may have just pulled off one of the greatest upsets in NBA history.

Despite being down 20 points at one point, the Pacers were able to rally and steal away a win against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

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There are multiple factors that had a hand in this victory. For one, Cleveland was missing three key players from their roster. Additionally, the Pacers had a great game, with six players scoring in the double digits.

six in double figures in the Game 2 dub 💥 pic.twitter.com/avQGmqRk0Z
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 7, 2025

That being said, point guard Tyrese Haliburton has a more simple answer regarding why they were able to come out on top: they wore the Cavs down.

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"We wore on them for 48 minutes," Haliburton said, per Dustin Dopirak of IndyStar. "They came out and pressed us full court. They played more our style and by the end of the game everybody was tired, but they were tired. That's part of the wear-down effect of 48 minutes."

"We've seen a lot these last three, four weeks of the season and it prepared us for moments like such," center Myles Turner said. "It's a thing of beauty right now. We're playing some great basketball. ... There's always time on the clock. That's what we keep telling ourselves. We know how our pressure wears on teams."

in the last 20 years, teams that trailed by 7+ in the final 48 seconds of the 4th quarter or OT are 3-1,679.

two of those are us in the last 8 days.

no panic. pic.twitter.com/KoUT38R9za
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 7, 2025

Haliburton would go on to elaborate, giving massive credit to head coach Rick Carlisle for trusting the team and keeping them ready.

"We have faith in coach's rotations, trust in what he sees out there," Haliburton said. "When we fouled and subbed in for offense for the last five seconds and got the 3, I knew he would leave me on the floor after that, and we just tried to make plays. Tried to figure it out."

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"We wear (teams down)," Haliburton concluded. "The wear-down effect for four quarters and 48 minutes allowed us to stay with it and get a big win."

Look at the past three games, this is definitely true. Despite facing seemingly insurmountable odds, Indiana was able to come back and make NBA history, Now,

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For more news and notes about the Indiana Pacers, head on over to Indiana Pacers on SI.