Haliburton, Pacers are comeback kings of NBA playoffs
Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals on Thursday started with raucous hysteria from the Oklahoma City faithful, only to end in deafening silence after Tyrese Haliburton drained a last-second game-winner.
It was par for the course for an Indiana Pacers team that's made a habit of fourth-quarter comebacks. Haliburton and Co. have now erased five deficits of 15 or more points to snatch victories from the jaws of defeat in these playoffs.
Here's a look at those five instances and how they happened.
NBA Finals
Game 1: Pacers 111-110 Thunder
Down by a dozen at halftime - and stuck 15 points to start the third quarter - the Pacers looked dead in the water in what was setting up to be a comprehensive home win for the Thunder. And then Indiana mounted another prolific fourth-quarter surge.
Haliburton was the hero then too, draining a 21-foot pull-up jumper with 0.3 seconds on the clock after Aaron Nesmith rebounded a missed 14-footer from MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
It tied the largest fourth-quarter NBA Finals comeback in the last 50 years, and Haliburton is now 6-for-7 (85.7%) with game-tying or game-winning shots in the final 90 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime in these playoffs.
Haliburton finished the night with 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting. Pascal Siakam chipped in with 19 points and 10 boards, and Obi Toppin had 17 points off the bench. But Andrew Nembhard was the difference maker: He scored or assisted on 16 of the Pacers' fourth-quarter points.
Eastern Conference finals
Game 1: Pacers 138-135 Knicks (OT)
The New York Knicks owned a 17-point second-half advantage and led by 14 points with under three minutes left in regulation before Nesmith sparked a historic comeback for the visitors courtesy of a flurry of late 3-pointers.
Down two with seconds remaining, Haliburton appeared to nearly lose his dribble before stepping back toward the 3-point line and hoisting a last-second jumper that bounced off the rim and veered skyward before gravity guided it through the cylinder.
Haliburton thought he'd won the game and mimicked Pacers icon Reggie Lee's famous choke signal, just as Miller had toward celebrity Knicks fan Spike Lee after guiding Indiana to a come-from-behind victory in 1994. History would not repeat itself, though - the bucket was ruled a 2-pointer following a review, but the Pacers would get the last laugh when Nembhard made the go-ahead basket with 26 seconds left in OT to secure a memorable win.
It was a riveting start to the ninth playoff matchup between the Eastern Conference rivals. The Pacers would go on to win the best-of-seven series in six contests.
Eastern Conference semifinals
Game 5: Pacers 114-105 Cavaliers
Indiana rallied from a 19-point first-half deficit to eliminate the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games. The Pacers won all three contests at Cleveland's Rocket Arena.
If knockout punches from the Pacers punctuated the other outcomes on this list, this was death by a thousand cuts. Cleveland stormed out to a 44-24 lead with eight minutes left in the opening half before Indiana's breakneck pace of play proved too much.
Indiana went 14-of-22 from the field in the third frame and carried a 17-2 run into the fourth quarter. The visitors then resisted a brief Cleveland comeback by scoring eight of the final 12 points to cement the series.
The Cavs didn't help their cause, shooting just 38.9% from the field and making only nine of 35 attempts from beyond the arc. Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland were a combined 12-of-41 from the field and just 4-of-19 from deep.
Game 2: Pacers 120-119 Cavaliers
Trailing 119-112 with 48 seconds left, the Pacers scored the final eight points of a thrilling affair capped by a Haliburton triple with 1.1 seconds left on the clock to steal Game 2 in Cleveland and take a 2-0 lead over the No. 1 seed.
The final bucket was trademark Pacers: Nembhard stole the inbound pass from Max Strus with 27.5 seconds left, feeding Haliburton, who sought a game-tying three, only to drive the lane and get fouled. He made the first from the charity stripe but missed the second, grabbing the offensive board before backtracking toward the 3-point line.
Haliburton scored 11 of his 19 points in the final frame as the Pacers overcame a 19-point deficit, marking the first time they've snatched a 2-0 lead in a series on the road since 1994. Myles Turner and Nesmith poured in 23 points each.
Mitchell led the way with 48 points for the shorthanded Cavaliers, who were without Garland, De'Andre Hunter, and Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley due to injuries.
First round
Game 5: Pacers 119-118 Bucks (OT)
Doubt these Pacers at your own peril. It's been a theme of these playoffs, and it started in Game 5 of the first-round series versus the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Pacers trailed by 20 points in the third quarter and were behind 118-111 with 34.6 seconds left in overtime before Nembhard was the catalyst for a late surge. First, he drilled a trey with 34.1 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 118-114, then he stole Gary Trent Jr.'s inbound pass near the sideline to set up Haliburton's three-point play to narrow the advantage to a single point.
Indiana again pressured Trent, who mishandled a long pass with 10.8 seconds left, setting up Haliburton for a game-winning layup as the Pacers ended the game on an 8-0 run. Trent finished with 33 points and drained four of his eight attempts from deep in the extra frame, but those two miscues proved costly.
Giannis Antetokounmpo added 30 points for the Bucks in a losing cause. The former MVP was confronted by Haliburton's father, John, sparking a postgame melee on the court.