Tyrese Haliburton sinks cold-blooded game winner, hits obscene celebration vs Cavs

With 12.1 seconds left in Tuesday’s Eastern Conference Semifinals game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Tyrese Haliburton went to the free throw line. His Indiana Pacers trailed 119-116, meaning everything had to go right for them to complete the comeback.

That’s exactly what happened. Haliburton wound up hitting the game-winner winner and then celebrated on the other end.

Haliburton made the first free throw, but missed the second one. He then came up with his own offensive rebound in the middle of the scrum and stepped back beyond the key, where he put up the three-pointer. It fell, putting Indiana up 120-119 – which held as the final since Cleveland didn’t have a timeout.

Tyrese Haliburton’s celebration after the game winner LMAOO 😭pic.twitter.com/a6muuOMC0B

— Kyrie Center (@kyriecenterig) May 7, 2025

The Cavaliers entered the game shorthanded with three starters – Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and De’Andre Hunter – ruled out with injury jut before tip-off. However, Cleveland was still able to take full control in the third quarter, leading by as many as 20 points.

Indiana didn’t back down, though. The Pacers mounted a charge to make it a 98-84 game entering the fourth quarter and proceeded to outscore the Cavaliers 36-21 in the final frame to steal a Game 2 victory on the road.

Max Strus appeared to hit the dagger three with 1:06 to go, giving Cleveland a 117-110 lead at the time. Haliburton then made a layup to make it 117-112 and Donovan Mitchell – who had 48 points on the night – hit two free throws to put the Cavs back up by seven points, 119-112.

Then, a key call came down. Aaron Nesmith put back a missed free throw by Pascal Siakam, but the officials ruled it offensive interference. Rick Carlisle then challenged the call and won, putting two points on the board to make it a 119-114 Cleveland lead. Siakam then made a driving layup that got Indiana within three.

The Cavs had the ball with 27.1 seconds left, but botched the inbound as Nembhard picked it off and got it to Tyrese Haliburton. He drew a shooting foul to head to the free throw line with 12.1 seconds left. It was off and running from there in a crazy sequence that resulted in a thrilling Pacers victory.

Indiana’s comeback continues a trend of thrilling playoff games so far this NBA postseason. In the early part of the conference semifinals, there have been four 20-point comebacks – already the most in a single postseason since 1997.

With a 2-0 lead, the series will now shift back to Indiana. Game 3 between the Pacers and Cavs is set for Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.