Tyrese Haliburton Silences Dillon Brooks and Houston With Clutch Play and Some Trash Talk

The Indiana Pacers silenced the Houston Rockets tonight. Tyrese Haliburton and Co. beat the Rockets 132-129 in a thrilling finish. The game was a heated battle from the tip-off, and emotions were running high between players from both teams. Rockets forward Dillion Brooks was chirping at Haliburton for the whole game, trying to disrupt his rhythm. However, Haliburton got the last laugh as he hit a clutch shot in the final seconds to seal the game for the Pacers.

The Pacers were leading the Rockets by only 3 points with less than 25 seconds to go in the 4th quarter. Haliburton accepted his superstar role and took the responsibility on his shoulders to lead his team to victory. He put a nasty dribble combination on the Rockets’ defenders and drove to the basket for a tough layup through contact to extend the Pacers lead to 5 points.

Haliburton was hyped after the play and started trash-talking Dillion Brooks while heading back on defense. The Rockets called a timeout to set their next play, but Haliburton continued to chirp at Brooks on his way to the bench.

Tyrese Haliburton had a massive impact in tonight’s game despite being on a minute restriction. Haliburton has been playing with a time constraint since he returned from his hamstring injury. He is playing an average of 20+ minutes to get the appropriate rest while still staying eligible for the regular season awards. Tonight, Haliburton played for 29 minutes and finished the game with 18 points, 7 assists, and 2 rebounds.

Is Haliburton’s minute restriction hurting him and the Pacers?

Although the Pacers came out with a win tonight, they have lost 3 of their last 5 games since Haliburton’s return. The Pacers superstar has not fully recovered from his hamstring injury and is logging in extra minutes to stay eligible for the All-NBA nod.

Read More: Is Tyrese Haliburton a Young Stephen Curry?

Haliburton has already missed 13 games this season due to injury. And according to the new NBA rule, he can only afford to miss a maximum of 4 more games for the remainder of the season to stay eligible for the regular season awards. Haliburton is in the final year of his rookie contract and will lose over $41 million on his new contract if he does not make the All-NBA team this season.

However, Haliburton’s pursuit of a better paycheck might hurt him in the long run. He is under threat of re-aggravating his injury in each game because of not taking complete rest. The Pacers are also struggling to find their rhythm, with Haliburton playing only 20+ minutes. Do you believe Haliburton should sit out more games to deal with his injury and return only after complete recovery?

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