Tyrese Haliburton is ice-cold. Armed with a never-say-die attitude, Haliburton and the Pacers managed to overturn another seven-point deficit in the final minute or so of a ballgame. Down 119-112 with 48 seconds remaining, the Pacers stormed back in Game 2 of their second-round matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers, with Haliburton nailing a dagger stepback triple over Ty Jerome to give the Pacers a 120-119 win that pushes their lead in the series to 2-0.

For all the talk of Haliburton being overrated, all he's done so far in this year's playoffs is take another leap. It speaks so much to the security the Pacers star has in himself that amid all the criticisms of him, he's managed to elevate his game even further.

“I'm at peace with my game. Understanding that I'm trusted in these moments. I have all the confidence in the world to make these shots. My teammates and my coaching staff give me that confidence. Just trying to make plays out there,” Haliburton said in his postgame presser, via the official ClutchPoints account on X (formerly Twitter).

This Pacers squad does not know when to quit, and this has been an indelible part of their identity all season long. This confidence and immense self-belief that they have allow them to punch above their weight class, and they have now taken two games on the road against a 64-win Cavs team that had many dreaming of a championship run considering how excellent they've been all season long.

“It's just what basketball is. Especially the end of our season looked a lot like this. We've had many games where you can take a screenshot at any moment [and ask], ‘How did they win this game?' But we just have a resilient group. We figure out ways to win. We don't give up. We're battle-tested,” Haliburton added.

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Pacers' continuity is paying off

Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton celebrates their last-second win
© David Richard-Imagn Images

The Pacers have refused to make wholesale changes to their roster this past season; they already made a huge move when they acquired Pascal Siakam via trade, and all they've done since then is improve now that they've gotten more accustomed to each other's tendencies.

“As a group, we've basically been together for about two years now. And that continuity has been really good for us. We've got to figure out so many different ways to win. When some guys got it going, when some guys don't got it going, we just find a way. And today, that's what it was all about,” Haliburton said.