Haliburton's Heroics - Pacers take 2-0 Lead

In one of the wildest endings I've seen in a NBA playoff game in years, Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers stunned the Cleveland Cavs with a 20+ point comeback to take control of the series 2-0. Winning 2 road games against the #1 seed in the East is no small feat -- and with the series heading to Indiana next -- we are set to see a major shake-up in the NBA Playoff Picture. Not to mention both the Nuggets and the Knicks -- the road team in their respective conference semis -- both stole Game 1 on Monday night. The hockey fans who love to cry about the NBA playoffs sucking are real quiet right now, as we've seen great game after great game lately (the NHL ploffs have been great too, IDK why it has to be one or the other for the diehards).

Tyrese Haliburton has been playing with a chip on his shoulder lately, and tonight was the epitome. After seeing his team down 20 points midway through the 3rd quarter, he got in rhythm after a quiet 1st half. Indiana stormed back in the 4th quarter, but the Cavs clung to their lead until the final seconds. 12 seconds, Down 2 with one shot left at the FT line, Haliburton intentionally missed and came away with his own offensive board and brought it out to the top. He proceeds to put Ty Jerome in a blender before stepping back and drilling the game-winning 3 with 1 second remaining. Cavs couldn't even get a shot up, Pacers escape.

The Pacers have been tested in their last 3 playoff games, starting with an improbable come-from-behind OT win to close out their series with The Bucks. They closed Overtime on an 8-0 to escape with a 1-point win, winning the series 4-1 and sending Giannis home. They jumped on the Cavs early in Game 1 and wound up winning by 9 in hostile territory. And then Game 2, they resurrect from the dead to absolutely steal another road game. Rick Carlisle has this team playing with so much energy and emotion, and he's playing like 11 guys a night, which is crazy to see in a playoff series.

Now if you're paying attention, you know the Cavs were without some very key pieces in this game. They were once again without Darius Garland, who's out with a hyperextended toe. But Evan Mobley -- budding star and defensive anchor for this team -- and Deandre Hunter -- trade deadline acquisition and big-bodied wing -- were both unavailable in Game 2. But Donovan Mitchell came to play in their absence scoring a whopping 48 points with 9 assists. But as is a theme in his career, his massive scoring output didn't equate to success in this one.

So what can we expect from here on out? The Cavs seemed like the #1 candidate if someone was going to take out the Celtics in the East. But how can we expect Cleveland to mount a comeback after this collapse on their home court, down 2-0, heading to Indianapolis, with uncertainty surrounding 2/3 of their best players' health?

And speaking of the Celtics -- they aren't exactly in the clear either after the Knicks stunned them in OT in Game 1. They got outscored by 19 points in the 2nd half + OT while hoisting 60 three-point shots (making 16 aka 25% of them). So they'll have to take care of business in Game 2 and control the series in New York to get on track. But something intriguing about this series is that regardless of who wins, they would have home court advantage in a potential ECF against the Pacers.

While we're here -- and despite not being a big fan of the result personally -- part of the interesting narrative of Round 2 is the road team/underdogs winning Game 1. The Nuggets, despite winning Game 7 vs the Clippers on Saturday night, turned right around and beat the Thunder in OKC -- on a massive Aaron Gordon game-winning 3-pointer with less than 3 seconds left to win 121-119. OKC was up by as many as 14 points in the 2nd half, but Jokic heated up in a major way. The 3-time MVP has 44 points, 22 boards, and 6 assists. Gordon went for 22/14, Jamal 21, Russ 18. Shai had 33/10/8 in the losing effort, and Alex Caruso had a huge game off the bench, but Jalen Williams (16 pts, 5-20 FG, 2-9 3-pt) needs to be better.

At the time I'm writing this, the Warriors are on track to continue the trend of the road dog, as they're up 16 on the TWolves early in the 3rd and Minnesota only has 33 fucking points. But Steph is out with a hammy, and there's been a real trend of 4th quarter comebacks in the last few days, so I'm not counting MIN out. Ant hasn't made a shot from the field and Draymond has 16/7/5 and made 4 threes, so it's possible we're just trapped in a simulation (of my nightmares).

Here's to hoping we keep seeing incredible games like these as the playoffs go. Especially there's some upsets in store going into the WCF and ECF -- the NBA is at it's best when the WCF/ECF are very competitive and set up the Finals to be even better. More NBA playoff blogs will be coming as we go (as well as some NHL if I can keep the hockey bug going, even if the Blues are out).