These Indiana Pacers are starting to emerge like that piece of turd you can't flush. They simply won't go away, and they are showing that their run to the Eastern Conference Finals last year was no fluke. On Tuesday night, they managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat once more, as they managed to overturn a seven-point deficit in the final minute or so and steal Game 2 of their second-round matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers thanks to a stunning Tyrese Haliburton game-winner that gave Indiana a 120-119 win and a 2-0 series lead.

No lead is safe against these Pacers. Regardless of whether or not the odds are in their favor, the Pacers will fight until the final buzzer, and they have proven to be quite the tricky team to dispose of. In fact, they have now won two games in this year's playoffs despite being down by seven in the final 48 seconds of the game (fourth quarter or overtime). Throughout playoff history, teams have only won under those circumstances three times.

According to the official Pacers account on X (formerly Twitter), “teams that trailed by seven+ in the final 48 seconds of the 4th quarter or OT are 3-1,679.” Two of those wins have come from the 2025 Pacers, which simply goes to show how much late-game magic this team can conjure up.

Just last week, the Pacers managed to overcome a seven-point deficit in Game 5 of their first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks over the last 36.8 seconds of the game. It took a meltdown of epic proportions from the Bucks for the Pacers to pull off such an astounding comeback, but they deserve plenty of credit nonetheless for taking advantage of the door that the opposing teams leave open for them.

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Tyrese Haliburton, Pacers must now be favored to make it to the ECF

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© David Richard-Imagn Images

It's not too often that a road team takes the first two games of the series, but that's exactly what the Pacers have done against the Cavs. Some may want to put an asterisk on this achievement of theirs, but they can only play the team that's in front of them, and the absences of Darius Garland and Evan Mobley must not be held against them.

Now, Tyrese Haliburton and company will be taking a 2-0 lead with the series shifting to Gainbridge Fieldhouse. They will be getting the Cavs' best effort in Game 3 now that Cleveland has its back against the wall, but the Pacers have so much poise and will not be rattled even though they're now the favorite to advance to the next round.