Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) shoots over Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez (11) during the first half of an NBA In-Season Tournament semifinal game at T-Mobile Arena Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, in Las Vegas. The Pacers defeated the Bucks 128-119.
Published Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023 | 4:44 p.m.
Updated Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023 | 8:40 p.m.
No one thought the Indiana Pacers would be here.
That’s the way the Pacers like it.
“A lot of people didn’t want us here,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “We don’t care about that.”
Carlisle would know a thing or two about coaching a special team. He coached the 2011 Dallas Mavericks to an NBA championship over the favored Miami Heat that had LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade.
This Pacers team isn’t at a championship level just yet. But they’re starting to show the rest of the basketball world that they need to be taken seriously, especially now that they’ll be playing in the first ever championship of the NBA’s In-Season Tournament following a 128-119 win over the Milwaukee Bucks at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.
“We earned our way here,” Carlisle said. “We earned our way to three additional national TV games. People are going to find out about the Pacers, who we are and how we play.”
Indiana hasn’t been to the playoffs in four years. The five previous times they did before that saw five straight first-round exits. Currently the sixth seed in the East, the Pacers are not a team usually talked about in December, nor having as much national exposure as they have had.
The world is taking notice now.
Tyrese Haliburton led the Pacers with 27 points and 15 assists, and Myles Turner also had a double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds to push the Pacers to the championship game of the NBA’s inaugural tournament. The Pacers were the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference’s side of the bracket and reached the semis following a 122-112 win over the Boston Celtics in the quarterfinals on Monday.
Now, they’re a win away from being the first team to win the NBA Cup, and have gotten there by beating the top two teams in the East.
“It means the world to us as a group,” Haliburton said. “I think this was the whole point of the In-Season Tournament; seeing a young group like ourselves compete and come out here and fight. Nobody expected us to be here, except for the guys in the locker room.”
The Pacers are the seventh youngest team in the league (24.9 years old). Much of the roster, except for Turner, a nine-year veteran center, small forward Bruce Brown, now in his fifth season, have yet to experience playoff basketball — or high-pressured basketball in the league yet.
That goes for Haliburton, but it doesn’t look like it’ll stay that way for long.
Haliburton is having an MVP-caliber season averaging close to 27 points and 12 assists coming off his first All-Star appearance last year. Carlisle called Haliburton’s double-double the norm nowadays in Indiana.
He went blow-for-blow against one of the best point guards of the last decade, Damian Lillard, and was a vital catalyst why the Pacers held off Milwaukee’s dynamic duo of Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo. The two-time MVP had a game-high 37 points and 10 rebounds, while Lillard bounced back from a 2 of 10 first half to finish with 24 points on 7 of 20 shooting (4 of 9 from 3-point range).
“I don’t think we have a lot of Hollywood guys on this team,” Turner said. “Guys come in, put their heads down and work, and it just speaks to what the city of Indianapolis is.”
The Pacers took a 63-51 halftime lead before the Bucks rallied behind Lillard’s second wind. He hit four consecutive threes and the Bucks jumped out to a 25-9 run to begin the second half. Despite Lillard and Antetokounmpo finding their grooves, Milwaukee's defense didn’t have an answer for Indiana’s pick-and-roll tandem.
Milwaukee ran out of steam in the fourth quarter to allow Indiana to pull away. Haliburton put the game away with a step-back 3-pointer over Bucks center Brook Lopez with 48 seconds remaining for a 122-114 lead.
After the ball went through the hoop, Haliburton looked at his wrist — almost as if a response to Lillard’s iconic “Dame Time” celebration — and said, “I know what time it is.”
Haliburton said it was in the heat of the moment, but it was all about having fun.
“I think it’s our time as a group,” Haliburton said. “We’re shocking the world right now and we want to continue to do that.”
The time right now is on the Pacers’ side. They will face the Los Angeles Lakers in the title game, Carlisle said Indiana is not here to just be happy they made it this far, and that’s a testament to the culture they’re trying to create.
“It’s why we came here,” Carlisle said. “We’re not coming here just to make it look good. It’s all about getting to the finish line.”
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
