Tyrese Haliburton Stuns Cavs With NBA Playoffs' Latest Show-Stopping Dagger

The Indiana Pacers were behind the Cleveland Cavaliers By age 20 at some stage during Game 2 of their encounter in the second round of the 2025 competition. NBA Playoffs . The Cavs had already dropped Game 1 and were playing without injured stars Darius Garland and Evan Mobley (as well as key reserve De’Andre Hunter). This was set to be a win that saved Cleveland’s season and maybe bought them a little time to get healthy.

The Pacers kept chipping away in the fourth quarter, but it seemed like they were going to run out of time. When Donovan Mitchell sank a pair of free throws with under 57 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Cleveland led by seven. Seems secure enough, right? Not against Indiana.

The Pacers shocked the Cavaliers with a narrow 120-119 victory in yet another intense second-round game. The night prior, Aaron Gordon’s dagger stunned the Thunder Tyrese Haliburton countered with an equally impressive play to propel his team towards an unlikely victory.

The Cavaliers had possession of the ball for an inbound play leading by three points with only 27 seconds remaining. However, Andrew Nembhard intercepted a poor pass from Max Strus, initiating a fast break for the Pacers. Haliburton received the ball, advanced towards the hoop, and managed to draw a foul from the officials. After making the subsequent free throw, he narrowed their gap to just two points with 12 seconds still on the clock.

Then things got wild: Haliburton missed the second free throw, recovered his own offensive rebound, and dribbled the ball out to the top of the key before ripping a nasty step-back jumper to give Indiana the win. Watch the play here:

Haliburton was identified as the most overrated player according to a poll conducted by The Athletic only a few weeks ago. Now he has his Pacers on the verge of consecutive trips to the Eastern Conference Finals after stealing the first two games of the second round in Cleveland.

Haliburton finished with 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and zero turnovers in the win on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. Indiana’s furious comeback was made possible by the physical two-way play of Aaron Nesmith (23 points, three blocks) and Myles Turner (23 points, five blocks). The Pacers were sloppy with the ball all night (18 turnovers), got beat on the offensive glass, and shot six fewer free throws, but somehow clawed their way back to rip out Cleveland’s heart at the buzzer.

Donovan Mitchell was sensational with 48 points. The Cavs were the best team in the East all year, but the second round couldn’t be going worse for them. Garland has missed both games of this series with a sprained toe, Mobley is now out with a sprained ankle, and suddenly they are down 0-2 heading to Indiana.

It’s a shame Cleveland’s dream season could end this way. Just know Indiana took it from them.