Indianapolis-Tyrese Haliburton had 32 points, 15 assists and 12 rebounds without a turnover in a sensational postseason performance to take the Indiana Pacers beyond the New York Knicks 130-121 on Tuesday night for a 3-1 advantage in the East Conference finals.
With his father, John, back in Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Haliburton took the Pacers in a victory of his second trip to the NBA finals. Game 5 is Thursday in New York.
Pascal Siakam added 30 points, while Haliburton had four robberies in his second triple-double of the race postseason, the first in the history of the NBA playoffs in which a player had at least 30 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds without ball losses. Triple of Obi Toppin with 46 seconds that were sealed.
The Pacers have not lost consecutive games since March 10.
Jalen Brunson scored 31 points. Karl-Anthony Towns had 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Og Anunoby finished with 22 points. But the Knicks could not meet another two -digit deficit.
He scored the first time in the series that won the local team.
Almost a dozen former Pacers players, including Jermaine O’Neal and Lance Stephenson, joined Haliburton’s father in the very golden crowd. So did the Fame Hall of the WWE Triple H, the Rob 49 and 50 Cent rappers and the singers John Mellencamp and Jelly Roll.
John Haliburton had been forced to see the eight previous postseason games of Indiana from afar after he ran to the court and faced the Bucks star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, after his son’s last shot to eliminate Milwaukee in the first round. The Pacers allowed him to return to game 4 and he sat on a suite.
“I’m glad pop is in the building. It makes it much sweeter,” said Tyrese Haliburton in his interview after the game on the court.
The Knicks had their own fans section with film director Spike Lee and actors Timothee Chalamet and Ben Stiller.
What they witnessed was one of the most entertaining games of the postseason 2025 of the NBA. Both teams were shooting at a 70% long clip in the first quarter when the Pacers ran to an advantage of 43-35. New York returned in the second quarter claiming leadership three times, the last one with 64-63.
But Haliburton helped Indiana closed half in a 6-0 race to do it 69-64, since there was only half two rebounds below a triple-double.
Then, Indiana opened the second half with an even more aggressive style that stimulated a 9-2 race and closed the room in a 9-4 spurt to extend the margin to 102-91. Siakam scored the last five points of a 9-3 race at the beginning of the fourth to give Indiana an advantage of 1110-96.
New York approached six times in the final minutes, but the cities limited the bank after hurting their left knee with 2:11 to play and ended the game.
