Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle gave a blunt statement on Tyrese Haliburton's historic performance against the New York Knicks. Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals was critical as New York was looking to even the series after a shocking Game 3 comeback win. The Pacers had the lead for most of the game once again, but did not let history repeat itself in this 130-121 victory. The franchise is one win away from its second NBA Finals appearance.

Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam answered the call on Tuesday. In particular, the star point guard made some history against New York as the first player to drop 30/15/10 with zero turnovers in a playoff game. Rick Carlisle, however, downplayed any reason to celebrate this performance, choosing to remain locked in on the ultimate goal in the postgame press conference.

In a series of fine margins, the Pacers have been the better team through four games

New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32), Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) and forward Pascal Siakam (43) battle for control of the ball during the third quarter of game four of the eastern conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Indiana was the more cohesive team going into this series, and this group has looked the part throughout four games. While both teams were mostly terrific on offense in this affair, the Pacers had 29 assists and just 11 turnovers. Meanwhile, the Knicks had 17 assists and 17 turnovers. New York's mistakes were critical to allowing Indiana to get out in transition and maintain an offensive flow.

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In addition to Haliburton, Pascal Siakam looked relaxed as ever, putting up a clutch 30 points. The three-time All-Star had several huge buckets down the stretch, especially some critical shots from deep. Aaron Nesmith, who was also questionable heading into Tuesday night, put up a crucial 16 points and was a +20 when he was in the game. And Nesmith's presence brings up a big-picture viewpoint on one of the keys to this series so far. The Pacers can screen the Knicks, and the Knicks can't screen the Pacers.

So many times, New York tried to get Aaron Nesmith or Ben Sheppard off Jalen Brunson and into a switch with a big or Tyrese Haliburton. And time after time, this strategy failed, and Brunson was still being pestered by precisely the kind of defender Indiana wanted on him.

Meanwhile, Mikal Bridges struggled to go over or through screens from Myles Turner and several other players, which forced the Knicks into frequent mismatches, four-on-three scenarios, or open lanes/shots for the star point guard. That's a credit to Indiana's stars and these clutch role players who have repeatedly come up big.

Overall, Rick Carlisle is a championship coach and knows what's at stake here. If the Knicks go down, they will likely do it kicking and screaming. The Pacers need to stay locked in like they did tonight, or things can get out of hand.