“Baaaaaller”: Tyrese Haliburton’s Historic Night to Knockout Celtics Earns Spurs Legend’s Respect

The Indiana Pacers pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season as they eliminated the first-seeded Boston Celtics from the in-season tournament. The two teams faced off in the first quarter-final matchup, and Indiana beat Jayson Tatum and Co. 122-112. The Pacers knew ahead of the game they needed a miraculous performance from their players to advance to the semi-final.

Tyrese Haliburton put up one of the best performances of his career and got his team the win. Haliburton’s historic night even earned the respect of San Antonio Spurs legend Manu Ginobili. The Argentine took to X to shower praise on the Pacers superstar.

Tyrese Haliburton earns Manu Ginobili’s respect

Tyrese Haliburton stuffed the stat sheet and got his career’s first triple-double tonight in a historic win. The Pacers defeated the Celtics 122-112. The 23-year-old put up a monstrous stat line of 26 points, 13 assists, and 10 rebounds. His incredible performance even earned the respect of Spurs legend Manu Ginobili who wrote on X, “Tyresssssse! Baaaaaller!” The Hall of Famer was in awe of Haliburton’s historic outing and how he played against the best team in the Eastern Conference. Apart from Haliburton, the rest of the Pacers squad also put up a great team performance.

While Tyrese did most of the heavy lifting, 6 of his teammates also scored in double digits. The Pacers are now undefeated in the in-season tournament and are heading to the semi-final. They will face the winner of the Milwaukee Bucks vs. New York Knicks game, scheduled tomorrow.

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Why did the Celtics crumble against Haliburton and Co.?

Even though the Boston Celtics’ shocking elimination can be credited to Tyrese Haliburton’s historic triple-double, other aspects led to their downfall. Jayson Tatum and Co. were missing their Big Man, Kristaps Porzingis, who has been the key to their success this season. He has been out for the last four games due to a calf strain. Porzingis has been a solid two-way player for the Celtics, and his absence tonight meant the Pacers got easy chances to score.

Another reason for Boston’s loss was their reliance on three-point shooting. As we have already seen from Joe Mazzulla’s coaching style last season, he likes to rely heavily on three-pointers. That could either make or break a team. The Celtics missed 29 of their 41 attempts from beyond the arc tonight, while Tyrese Haliburton and Co. made 19 of their 40 three-point attempts.

Boston should look back on tonight’s game as a lesson and try to bounce back in the next game. As for the Indiana Pacers, their confidence will probably have skyrocketed after tonight’s win, and they will hope to continue this momentum and lift the NBA Cup in Las Vegas.

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