It’s the matchup Tyrese Haliburton wished — one-on-one with the Knicks captain — and with just below 5 minutes left within the third quarter of Recreation 1 of the Jap Convention Finals matchup between the Knicks and Pacers, Indiana’s All-Star guard dialed his personal quantity.
Haliburton, bothered by Knicks stopper OG Anunoby’s defensive stress, received the swap. In entrance of him, Jalen Brunson. All-Star vs. All-Star. Face of a franchise vs. face of a franchise with a visit to the NBA Finals hanging within the steadiness.
Haliburton sized Brunson up on the high of the important thing. He crossed between the legs, drove left, then went behind the again, again to his proper. Brunson matched him step for step. Haliburton crossed again between his legs then stepped-back for a mid-range two. Brunson fouled him on the touchdown. A stressed, sellout Madison Sq. Backyard crowd collectively sighed.
The whistle ruined the second they’d all been ready for.
Defensive methods make moments like this few and much between. The Pacers use a mix of Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith to hound the opposing level of assault, whereas the Knicks depend on Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Miles McBride off the bench to protect dynamic opposing guards.
That’s not how this sequence between two championship hopefuls has been billed. Workforce protection doesn’t promote seats and draw views.
Star energy, however, can pack out an enviornment and set document numbers. That is Brunson vs. Haliburton simply as a lot because it’s Knicks vs. Pacers — and it has the makings of a very good ole-fashioned basketball rivalry the likes of which has turn into uncommon within the NBA in recent times. Allen Iverson and Jason Kidd went at each other in each the 2002 and 2003 Jap Convention playoffs. Chris Paul and Stephen Curry, too, went head-to-head two years in a row in wars waged between the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors.
Now, after Haliburton eradicated Brunson in Recreation 7 of the second spherical of final 12 months’s playoff image — and after the 2 stared one another down inside a WWE ring simply weeks later, the NBA has its latest level guard rivalry.
And the 2 stars couldn’t any extra completely different from each other.
Brunson, in spite of everything, is the NBA’s new Clutch Participant of the 12 months, a scoring machine who has discovered a means in opposition to the NBA’s high defenders. Within the first spherical, it was Detroit’s Ausar Thompson. In Spherical 2, Boston’s mixture of Jrue Vacation and Derrick White. Now, within the convention finals, it’s Nembhard and Nesmith. However on this possession, it was Haliburton, and the Knicks captain made certain to get his lick again.
Only a few possessions after Haliburton drew a foul on Brunson, New York’s All-Star received a head of steam attacking Haliburton downhill and stepped-back baseline for a mid-range two. Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle is aware of Brunson’s sport all-too nicely. He coached the star Knicks guard for the primary 4 years of his profession earlier than he left the Dallas Mavericks for New York in the summertime of 2022.
“He’s a great player, and he’s got an indomitable will to attack, to score, to be great within their system. They’re all very tied together,” Carlisle mentioned forward of tipoff on Wednesday. “So we certainly have our work cut out for us there. I know he’s one of the most productive guys in the playoffs if not the most. He’s a special player and a very difficult player to deal with.”
The pair of All-Star guards spent the third quarter buying and selling buckets: Brunson ripped by Pacers massive man Myles Turner for a fast floater, and Haliburton responded for a straightforward floater the subsequent possession. Brunson scored on an and-one floater then flexed on Andrew Nembhard, and Haliburton responded with a step-back three over Knicks massive man Mitchell Robinson.
The place Brunson is in perpetual assault mode, the Pacers star fluctuates between play-making and shot-seeking.
“I think he reads and attacks the game as it’s presented. Sometimes he’s aggressive to score, sometimes he’s aggressive to make plays,” says Brunson. “Just makes him very difficult to guard. But it’s not a one-on-one matchup or anything like that. It’s just us together. We’re gonna have to figure out how to slow him down.”
And each have been attacking with Recreation 1 hanging within the steadiness within the fourth quarter on Wednesday. Brunson hit a step-back three and Haliburton instantly responded with a trey of his personal. On the subsequent possession, after Brunson missed a side-step three, Haliburton drew two defenders, received off the ball, and received the hockey help on Nesmith’s three.
“I think he’s an offense unto himself. Has great size, he can shoot the ball, off the dribble, he’s a terrific passer, he’s got vision,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau mentioned of Haliburton. “So we have to make sure that we’re guarding him with our team. When he gets into space, That’s when he’s problematic. So we’ve got to make sure he’s seeing bodies.”
Fittingly, this one went to time beyond regulation, courtesy of Haliburton’s late-game heroics. The Pacers trailed, 116-102, with 3:17 left in regulation, and Aaron Nesmith went nuclear, making 5 threes in a row to make it a one-possession sport with below a minute on the clock.
The Pacers deliberately fouled Anunoby, who cut up a pair of free throws to go away the Pacers inside two. Haliburton dribbled frantically. A lesser playmaker would have given the ball to an open teammate. Not Haliburton. Not on this possession. Not with a shot to steal Recreation 1 on the street.
With seven seconds left on the clock, Haliburton took the ball the complete size of the ground, crossed-over Mikal Bridges, then met Mitchell Robinson within the paint earlier than retreating again out to the highest of the important thing and heaving a shot from downtown. The ball ricocheted off the again of the rim excessive into the air, then fell into the online. Haliburton did the signature Reggie Miller chokehold round his personal neck — as if the Knicks had simply choked away their home-court benefit.
After which, the cameras caught him in 4K: Haliburton’s foot was on the road — a la Kevin Durant‘s Brooklyn Nets Recreation 7 vs. the Milwaukee Bucks.
There can be extra basketball. The duel between two of the NBA’s premier level guards would rage on. Brunson knifed by way of the lane for a layup on the rim to place the Knicks up one with below a minute left, and Haliburton responded with a crossover on Brunson, then a dime to Andrew Nembhard to place the Pacers again up one.
The Pacers would go on to win by three, and Brunson’s try and tie in time beyond regulation sailed vast proper. The Knicks captain completed with a game-high 43 factors on 15-of-25 capturing from the sector, however in true villain trend, Haliburton had the final snicker: 31 factors, 11 assists, and one other victory on The Backyard’s hardwood flooring so as to add one other chapter to the league’s latest level guard rivalry.
“I mean, he’s a great player. I love competing against him. I know you’re not supposed to say it, but like, we’re friends. I just love competing against that guy,” Haliburton mentioned after the win. “And I feel the storied rivalry between the Pacers and Knicks is de facto cool, however I feel the place we’re proper now, we’re writing our personal tales proper now.
“I think where we are is a special time, and something that’s going to be remembered by fans of the Pacers, fans of the Knicks moving forward. It’s just really, really special to compete against him and compete in general.”
Initially Printed: Might 21, 2025 at 11:39 PM EDT
