Tyrese Haliburton Says Pacers 'Been Playing with House Money' After NBA Finals G1 Win

Tyrese Haliburton brought up the Indiana Pacers' underdog status when discussing the team's modest locker room celebration after defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals.

“What’s the point?” Haliburton told Andscape's Marc J. Spears. “Ain’t nobody expected us to win this [expletive] anyway. So, what’s the point of tripping? Not a person expected us to win not a single series we played in. So, what’s the point of tripping?"

“We are playing with house money, really," he added. "We have been playing with house money all playoffs.”

Indiana trailed by nine points with just under three minutes left in the fourth quarter of Game 1, but closed the period on a 12-2 run that was highlighted by a game-winning jumper from Haliburton with 0.3 seconds remaining in the contest.

The star point guard finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and one block in 39 minutes while shooting 6-of-13 from the field. Oklahoma City never trailed throughout the entire game before Haliburton's last-second shot.

While the Pacers owned a better regular-season record than the Milwaukee Bucks, their first-round playoff opponent, they were the lower-seeded team in each of their next two series matchups in the Eastern Conference.

They ended up winning both, defeating the 64-win Cleveland Cavaliers in five games and taking down the 51-win New York Knicks in six games. Both clashes featured clutch buckets from Haliburton to help complete improbable road comebacks.

While Indiana now holds a 1-0 series advantage over Oklahoma City, the Thunder are still favored to win the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

Haliburton isn't concerned about the Pacers' championship odds, though.