The Indiana Pacers are off to the knockout stage of the NBA In-Season Tournament, and Tyrese Haliburton has been the main reason as to why. Haliburton was already an elite floor general during the 2022-23 season, but he appears to have ascended to another level for this campaign. On Tuesday night, during the Pacers' group-clinching victory over the Atlanta Hawks, Haliburton was simply unstoppable, dropping 37 points and 16 assists on a pristine 11-16 shooting from the field (nine of his field goals were triples), while adding three steals and a block.

During a game where the defenses of both teams were virtually non-existent, Haliburton was able to steer the Pacers to victory — a continuation of his stellar play over the past few weeks. On the season, Haliburton is now averaging 24.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 12.0 assists per game on 50-40-90 shooting, and in doing so, the Pacers star has even drawn MVP consideration from Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett.

“Haliburton in that convo. What convo? Yeah… that convo 💯 🔥,” Garnett wrote on his official Twitter (X) account.

Kevin Garnett may not have specified which award conversation Tyrese Haliburton belongs in, but any fan would know that the Big Ticket is talking about the MVP race. At the very least, the Pacers star is definitely the frontrunner to take home the MVP award for the NBA In-Season Tournament with how much he has carved up the Cleveland Cavaliers', Philadelphia 76ers', and most recently, the Hawks' defenses on their way to the knockout stage.

And with a game against the Detroit Pistons in the tournament on the docket, Haliburton has a golden chance to improve his elite averages of 29.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 14.7 assists through his first three In-Season Tournament games.

It's still early on in the season for anyone to be prognosticating about who would win the 2024 NBA MVP award. The narrative can still shift drastically, as evidenced by the Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic showdown of last season. But at the moment, Haliburton looks as good a bet as any to continue this impressive display and, perhaps, come the end of the season, he'll be hoisting the Michael Jordan Trophy.