Indiana Pacers superstar Tyrese Haliburton told reporters that his team’s In-Season Tournament Championship battle with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday marks a “storybook ending.”
Tyrese Haliburton says it’s like a “storybook ending” for he and the Pacers to play against LeBron James and the Lakers in the In-Season Tournament title game.
“Like any kid born in 2000, LeBron was my favorite player growing up…the great thing about the NBA is being able to compete against your idols on a nightly basis.”
"Like any kid born in 2000, LeBron was my favorite player growing up…the great thing about the NBA is being able to compete against your idols on a nightly basis.”
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) December 8, 2023
The fourth-year pro has been nothing short of phenomenal all season, averaging 26.9 points and 12.1 assists for a 12-8 Pacers team that could very well make the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
James, who turns 39 on Dec. 30, has been amazing himself in his 21st NBA season, posting 25.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game for the 14-9 Lakers, currently fourth in the West.
On paper, this looks like a great matchup featuring one of the game’s all-time greats (if not the GOAT) in James versus a 23-year-old breakout superstar who is making a case for a spot on the All-NBA First Team this season. Eight players average at least 10.0 points per game.
Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers will take on James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night in the championship game of the inaugural In-Season Tournament. The tournament was something that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver wanted for years, likening it to what’s commonly done in top soccer leagues around the globe.
James said the other major ideas on Silver’s watch — the bubble at Walt Disney World that finished the 2019-20 season in the early months of the pandemic on the way to the Lakers winning the title, and the play-in tournament — both worked, and he has called the commissioner “a genius” for pulling the In-Season Tournament off.
Haliburton is essentially just starting out; he was an All-Star last year, got a rookie max extension from the Pacers last summer that will be worth at least $205 million and has emerged as perhaps this season’s breakout star. I’ve got to do a better job of finding ways to win.
I’ve got to be better for us to win games. And while it’s not an NBA title, Haliburton has a chance to win something big on Saturday night.
“He’s a great player,” Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo said. Speaks volumes about the way he’s playing this year.”
The Lakers-Pacers game won’t count in the standings, since it’ll essentially be the 83rd game in an 82-game season for both teams. Players on the winning team get $500,000 apiece, so there’s roughly $4.5 million at stake in Saturday’s game.
The winning team also gets the NBA Cup and all players from the championship team get medals.
Haliburton has led the Pacers to a 9-8 record through their first 17 games and what the 23-year-old achieved in the month of November was historic. Aside from leading the league in assists per game (11.8), Haliburton averaged 28.6 points, 11.7 assists, and 3.2 rebounds per game while shooting 53.2 percent from the floor and 46.7 percent from three-point range in 13 games during the month of November.
This has put the Pacers guard in elite company with the likes of LeBron James and Michael Jordan, arguably the two greatest players in NBA history.
According to ESPN Stats and Info, Haliburton joined James and Jordan as the third player in league history to average at least 25 points and 10 assists per game while shooting 50 and 40 percent from the floor and three-point range, respectively, in a single month.
His 27.0 points per game average on the season currently ranks tied for 10th in the league with Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey, and Haliburton currently ranks third in three-pointers made (63), trailing only Stephen Curry (87) and Luka Doncic (64).
During the month of November, Haliburton recorded six games with at least 30 points, ending the month with a season-high 44 points against the Miami Heat. LeBron James had nothing but praise for young Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton following their entertaining matchup on Monday night.
The third-year guard had 24 points, seven rebounds and 14 assists.
“And everything went wrong, and you tip your hat off to Indiana.”
Tyrese Haliburton is having an amazing season for the Indiana Pacers.
He’s playing like an All-Star and averaging 19.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 11.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game.
The 22-year-old guard is in his third year in the NBA, and his first full season in Indiana. Despite being tipped to tank this season, Haliburton has the Pacers sitting on a winning record.
