Tyrese Haliburton Says 'We Don't Give Up Until The Clock Hits 0' After Pacers Comeback
Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton hit yet another game-winning shot to cap a miraculous comeback when his mid-range jumper gave his team a 111-110 road win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday.
After the game, ESPN's Scott Van Pelt asked Haliburton about the Pacers' mentality when they were down 15 early in the fourth quarter, and the two-time All-NBA player said that the Pacers "don't give up 'til the clock hits zero."
"Just stay at it. You know, we're a resilient group. We just keep saying that to you guys, you know? You guys keep asking us, I keep giving you the same answer. We're a resilient group, and we don't give up 'til the clock hits zero, you know? So we do a great job of just staying in the moment. You know, trying to get it from 15 to 10, 10 to 5, 5 to zero, you know? We just walk teams down, and really proud of this group."
Haliburton also had this comment after the game.
The Pacers were down 94-79 with nine-and-a-half minutes left. They were also trailing 108-99 with under three minutes remaining. However, the Pacers pulled off an incredible comeback to take the series opener.
The Pacers have engineered four stunning comebacks in each of their 2025 playoff series, as Ben Golliver of the Washington Post noted. Haliburton has made the game-winning or game-tying shot with one second left at most on the clock each time.
Simply put, it's become part of the Pacers' DNA to author these incredible playoff comebacks, with Haliburton dealing the final blows.
Thursday was just another example, although this time it was against a Thunder team that's clearly been the best squad in the NBA all year. OKC went 68-14 and then went 12-4 in the playoffs before making the Finals. The Thunder have the league's NBA MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the league's No. 1 defense as well.
And with that, OKC was up 15 in the fourth and led for 47 minutes and 59.7 seconds. However, Haliburton made the mid-range jumper, and now Indiana has the early 1-0 lead as the team looks for its first-ever NBA title.
