Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton has been named Eastern Conference Player of the Week, and he has pro wrestling legend Booker T to thank for it.

(I kid.)

However, ever since his pre-game run-in with the WWE Hall of Famer, Tyrese Haliburton has been balling out of control. In the last five games, the 23-year-old point guard has averaged 26.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, 15.2 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.4 turnovers, and 51-39-88 shooting splits. That basic stat-line doesn't tell the whole story. Within this stretch, Haliburton notched back-t0-back games with at least 20 points and 20 assists, becoming only the third player in NBA history to accomplish that feat. Assuming all of Haliburton's assists have been on two-point baskets (which, for clarification, they haven't), that still means that in this five game stretch, Haliburton is responsible for 57 total points per game between his scoring and assists, and he's forcing as many turnovers as he's giving away each game.

This is the sort of run that will make worshippers of Chris Paul, The Point God, question whether there may or may not be another deity out there, because in his career, we've never seen Chris Paul play with this sort of pace and turn the ball over so seldom, or seemingly have so much fun doing so.

But as Haliburton himself points out, these insane numbers are largely irrelevant if the Pacers weren't a perfect 5-0 in this stretch:

“It only happens if we keep winning. Let's just keep rolling.”

That's the sort of message I want my Point God delivering in the post-game locker room, especially one after he torched the co-Eastern Conference favorite Milwaukee Bucks for the second game in a row.

Now it may still be a little premature to send Indiana to the top tier of the Eastern Conference, even though their last three wins have come against the New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks twice. And yes, the Pacers did make the In-Season Tournament Championship Game, defeating Boston and Milwaukee on their way there. But it's a long season, and we've seen frisky pseudo-contenders look really good in December and January and then peter out by March and April.

Here's the strongest case you can make for the Indiana Pacers… in a league that typically requires you to have a super-duper star on your roster if you dare dream of making a deep run in the postseason, the Pacers have found theirs in Tyrese Haliburton.