
All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton has the Indiana Pacers two wins from upsetting the No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Haliburton hit the winning 3-pointer Tuesday to give the Pacers a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series. He is averaging 20.5 points and 8.5 assists in the series.
The way he is running the show has others thinking of Hall of Famer Steve Nash, who won two MVPs with the Phoenix Suns. That’s the comparison ESPN podcaster Darrick Miller made during a recent episode.
“I love the way [Haliburton] plays,” Miller said. “It’s like he picks and chooses when he wants to push the tempo and then sometimes he’s like, `Nah, nah, nah, we finna slow down, we finna run a set, we finna get a Siakam post up. I feel like defending him as a team has to be frustrating … He’s a modern day Steve Nash.”
“He’s the modern-day Steve Nash.” – @Dmills___ on Tyrese Haliburton pic.twitter.com/7k7krPYYOz
— Numbers On The Board (@notbpod) May 6, 2025
Haliburton has the Pacers in contention to reach the conference finals for a second straight season. Last year they lost to the eventual champion Boston Celtics. While the comparison to the past is great, Haliburton could have a chance to outdo Nash by winning a championship.
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