The Most Improbable Playoff Run In NBA History

The Most Improbable Playoff Run In NBA History

Every single season, NBA teams get divided into categories. When narrowing it down to the playoff teams, you have your guaranteed title picks. One of the great playoff runs of all time is complete. Any other contenders, the Denver Nuggets can finally call themselves NBA champions. Your tough teams that aren’t on that level, but will still be a challenge to beat. Oh, he’s setting the building on fire. And then you have the teams that should barely even be there. But there’s another category, the team with nothing to lose. And you can make the case that this is by far the most dangerous one. Uh-oh. Gordon ties the game. We’ve had crazy playoff runs in the past, but I don’t think I’ve seen anything like this. Hi, Tyrese all the way in the back. Malikica Andrews, ESPN. The only lead change of the entire game was your game winner. And they say one time is luck. Four seconds for the lead. Two times is a habit. Steps back and hits. Three times. It’s the truth. For the win and he got it. So, what’s the fourth time? Oh my goodness. What is happening here? [Applause] [Music] [Applause] We know people don’t believe in us. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] If you know anything about Indiana, you know that they love basketball. A lot of confidence level is sky high. This is big time. The Pacers for most of their franchise history have been one of those teams that’s just always in the mix no matter what. And they’ve had a bunch of moments to be proud of in the past. [Applause] [Music] Got the steps count [Music] denies him at the rim and some moments that aren’t so pleasant. Our test is in the stands. Oh, this is awful. Fans are getting involved. Steen Jackson’s in the fans. They’ve seen it all. But one thing they haven’t seen a lot of in the last two decades or so, the reason why we play this game to begin with, they have not seen their team win very much. And even though they find themselves in one of the sports capitals of the country, they had also only found themselves in one finals appearance since the NBA ABA merger. And to a lot of fans, that just isn’t going to cut it. But a new era of Pacers basketball was about to begin. With the 11th pick in the 2015 NBA draft, the Indiana Pacers select Miles Turner from the University of Texas. What do you think that you showed this team during your pre-draft workouts? Man, just my ability just to go out there and outwork people, man. I mean, I’m a competitor. Um, I work hard. I mean, it’s just what I do. I think I came out there and put that on full display. Miles Turner came into an already established team, but one with an uncertain future. After a catastrophic injury to franchise superstar Paul George, the Pacers just seemed to be in limbo. As even though Paul George had returned from injury by the time Miles made the team, he was still trying to get back to the player that he once was. The situation was a pretty difficult one for a young player like Miles to just be thrown into, but he handled it pretty graciously. Not there for George Hill. Cutting is Oh my. Yes. Mike Turner gets his own board going strong. My wow. Being praised for his ability to space the floor and his rim protection, Miles was able to provide a lot of value to this Pacers team. even though he was still pretty young. However, without much playoff success in 2016 and 2017, the Pacers would have to make a decision on the future of their team. And in the 2017 off season, we would find out exactly what that decision was. Yeah, Ramona Shelurn is all over this story. Paul George has been traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. We are still trying to determine what the pieces are here. Yeah, Ramona just tweeted that she’s hearing it’s Oladipo and Sabonis. An upand cominging young guard in Victor Oladipo and a versatile big man in Damont Sabonis would hope to bring the team new life. Add Miles Turner into that mix and you have a great new younger core to build around and they showed a lot of promise. The future was bright. Olad Depotonus with the throwdown. a man that’s been tutored and mentored. Oh, wild Turner. Here’s Olado for three. Olado to win. Another one. He got another one. Another one. Length of the floor pass. They call the foul on Victor. I think I say he took his legs out from under Victor’s Victor’s hurt. Boy, I’m going to hit his kneecap. You can see it. Yeah, you can see it. Yeah, they’re calling the doctor out. We’re starting to see a pattern develop here. Indie gets a new star player and they soon suffer a catastrophic injury. And just like that, plans would all of a sudden change. as even though Oladipo would return from injury after a long recovery, they no longer saw a competitive future with that core with him, Damonte Sabonis, and Miles Turner. And as a result, the Pacers would make more major changes over the next few seasons, mainly trading Victor Oladipo to the Houston Rockets and hiring Rick Carile as their new head coach. During the 2022 season, they would make a trade. A trade that would end up being the key to everything. Welcome to Indiana. Yeah. What has the last couple days been like for you? Uh, it’s been a whirlwind. It’s been crazy. A lot of emotions, but uh I’m excited to be here and excited to get started. So, uh, you know, all the people have been super cool. I’m learning names right now, so give me a couple days, I’ll get everybody’s name, but uh, I’m looking forward to it. Tyrese Hallebertton had been doubted since before he was drafted back in 2020. They said he’s too skinny for the NBA. The unorthodox jump shot will never translate. It’s too slow. He’ll have to prove he can make threes consistently. All valid questions going into the draft. But his upside was what made him exactly the type of player that this team needed. A player that just has such a great feel for the game and running an offense. Ever since his rookie year with Sacramento, he always just seemed like a vet in terms of his overall knowledge and how he played and carried himself. He was just so mature for his age. When the starters come out, the job of the bench is to to, you know, add more momentum and keep it going if things are going well. And we didn’t do that to start that second quarter. We can’t be like that. It’s got to be off the jump. We got to be ready. I thought our energy was poor. Even though again he was just a first or secondyear player and early into his stint with Indiana it was obvious things just started clicking pretty much right away. Hallebert inside. Oh pass. Oh look at that pass. Nice pass. Brassette finishes. That’s basketball. Really good pass. Shot clock down to four. Hallebertton a deep three and he drills it. It was that moment where everything just came together and it was like, okay, yeah, that’s the guy. Acers are playing without Isaiah Jackson and a three by Hallebertton. Hallebertton for his third three. Hallebertton. What a bounce free look. Good find. Really good find. Hallebertton. Oh, he got challenging. Wow. The Pacers would make good progress to finish out the season, but it was clear that they simply just weren’t good enough yet and were building for next year and the years after that. They would make a trade with Boston to acquire Aaron Nesmith and a firstround pick for the next off season, as well as selecting both Benedict Matan and Andrew Nemhard in the 2022 draft. But even though Tyrese made his first All-Star appearance in 2023, Indiana struggled to stay above 500 for the majority of the season, and it was mainly due to lackluster offense. Still, it would prove to be a 10- win improvement over the previous year. So, it was clear that they were slowly moving in the right direction. The team would sign Hallebert into a massive contract extension in the 2023 off season to make it clear that they were fully committing to building around him and this core long term. A careerh high. You got to love it for the big fella having a heck of a year. Also that off season they would make a trade to acquire Obie Topphen from the New York Knicks. A great athlete and an okay shooter that was just never quite able to put things together in New York. The biggest change between the 2023 and 2024 seasons, it was clear that the Pacers figured it was time to speed up the offense while simplifying it at the same time. And it sounds crazy, but it would actually prove to be the catalyst for everything that would follow. He met with me uh before the season and was like, “Yo, um like I don’t want to call plays anymore. I want you in charge of it. I believe in you. I trust you.” And I’m like, “Word?” Oh, bet. But he just believes in me and and gives me a ton of freedom. And I’d say the next part is honesty. He’s always real with me. Always keeps it real with me. The window for top it down behind the back. Turner for three. The bases have their game. And he is going to wobb it up and throw it down. Will be blocked by Turner. Smith with a running stop. Oh my goodness. The ball movement was impeccable. The run and gun style of play overwhelmed teams and at the center of it was Tyrese Hallebertton who at this point was beloved by Pacer fans and praised by diehard NBA fans. But it was time for everyone to see that this guy with the funny jump shot can actually be one of the top players in the NBA. What the hell are the Indiana Pacers? Rick Carile deserves the Taka coach of the year early in this season. They’re third in the Eastern Conference right now. Number one offense in the league. Mo, frankly, he’s a superstar. I there’s no other way to put it. When it comes to efficiency, there’s of course shooting efficiency, but one thing that often gets overlooked is passing and playmaking efficiency, completing passes and dishing out assists while also limiting your turnovers. In the 2024 season, Hallebertton started putting up unprecedented assist to turnover ratios. Oh, and that shot that some scout experts said would never translate to the NBA. is going to launch it and hit it. Hallebertton Hallebertton trying to get it over there. Tyrese. My goodness. Whoa. This is crazy. Hallebertton tracked off Balance three and he puts it in. They were finally putting it together. Like really putting it together and the final piece of the puzzle came to the team in January of 2024. first time being traded in mid-season nonetheless. What What’s kind of that adjustment been like for you and where do you feel like you still need to catch up or regain with this team? Uh yeah, it’s been tough. I mean, I think um the first two days of trade happened, I don’t think I slept at all. You know, the guys here has been unbelievable. Just you know, kind of like helping me through everything, you know, from from like from everyone literally like um from you know, like the Chaz to you know, the the equipment manager like it’s been it’s been great. Um and and I’m I’m I’m grateful for that. Um, and I think again for me, I’m going to have to continue to to learn and um and I’m going to get better. Pascal Seyakum brought championship experience as well as additional scoring and rebounding to a team that was already on an upward trajectory and for the most part he was pretty much plugandplay. There was no real adjustment period it seemed for him. He pretty much just fit right in almost immediately. 11 of 12 games and that’s Seakkum last time. Step through Seakum. Count it. Got it. Seakum get there. Yes. The team would finish the season with 47 wins. Good for the six seed in the Eastern Conference and a 22 win improvement from just two seasons before. And right when they got to the playoffs, you noticed pretty much right away that yeah, while a lot of these guys are young, they don’t seem like they’re scared or intimidated by anything. This series has officially begun. We’re winning the game right now. We’re winning the game right now. Crosses over on Beverly. Full game for the win. Tyrese [Applause] Callebertton underneath somehow here in Indianapolis. Temper starting to clear if you’re the Bucks for Doc Rivers. You’ve got to corral Poris. Hallebertton double team. Shot clock at four. Nimhard’s got to put it up. Step back. His three-pointer. Nimhorn knocks the three down. Time out. Knicks. Tyrese Hallebertton would miss time during the playoffs with a hamstring injury and ultimately the Pacers would be swept in the conference finals by the eventual champion Boston Celtics. But even though they were swept and without their all-star guard for a majority of the series, they were still competitive with what many considered to be the best team in the NBA. With three of those four games coming down to the last minute, they had proven that while they may not be on that level right now, it might not be that long before they are. Which brings us to the 2025 NBA season. We uh we had some very bad struggles and we need to do a lot better. So, we’ve got a few days here and we’ve got to tighten some things up. Why do you feel like you guys have struggled so much with consistency this season? Um, great question. I’ll think about it. Coming off of a conference finals appearance, a lot of fans wouldn’t expect this team to be struggling this much. With injuries to key players Andrew Nemhard and Ben Shepard, they just looked lost. Through the first 25 games of the season, the Pacers held a record of just 10 and 15. And with them being eliminated from the inseason tournament in December, they decided to use that downtime to try to get back to the Pacers team of last year. And a break proved to be exactly what this team needed because after that, well, and the Pistons have gone to the bench. Malik Beasley is in. He loses Hallebertton. Acrobatic outside them hard. Got three. Ninth year out of Providence. Bird can’t shoot again. You do and an assist game. Oh, he’s really filling him out. He is really really the ball. Look from one side of the floor to the other. Nimhard Matan. It’s a threeon one. Hallebertton behind the back for Matan. The Acers move it. Oh, good fake. Hallebertton for step back. Got it. [Music] Pacers down three. Hallebertton’s got the ball. Hallebertton rises up and there’s a whistle. Oh my goodness. Tyrese Hallebertton hits a three and is fouled. You have got to be kidding me. Now, Tyrese Hallebertton has always been pretty calm under pressure, but this season in particular, he had possibly the biggest statistical anomaly I have ever seen when it comes to scoring in the clutch. We talked about efficiency before. I’m adding another category to that, which is whatever the hell this is. Alleg double pumps a three and hit it. Yeah, plenty of time. Don’t foul. [Music] Hallebertton got him in hand. Oh, looks good. We’re tied. Oh, looks good. Hallebertton ties it and clear it out. Hallebertton and one had to make a play. And I’m telling you, N Smith was the difference. He made them have to rethink how they were going to set a screen and roll. They lost the ball. Bingo for three. And the paint on this end. play. Hallebertton got it. It’s a three. Raises his hands to the sky. And it was something that would rub off on the rest of the team. McConnell underneath the basket looking in the corner for three. You got him. Yeah. Pacers have a chance to tie. Yeah. Nhard hits the three. them hard. Brown switches on to Hallebertton. Shack them for the lead. [Music] 50 wins by the end of the season. Yet another improvement over the previous year with a noticeably better defense to go along with it. But despite all that, there’s a bit of a problem. You see, every single season, The Athletic sends out a poll to NBA players where they vote on various things like most underrated player, clutches player, who deserves to win MVP, etc. But there’s also another category on that poll, the most overrated player in the NBA. And in the 2025 athletic poll, Tyrese Hallebertton won the vote for most overrated player in the NBA. Now, I’m going to repeat that for those that may not be aware of what I just said. This is not a media poll or a fan vote or anything along those lines. This is players in the NBA that voted this. And with the playoffs coming around, that might be something to keep in mind for later. At this point, most people have three title picks on their minds going into the playoffs. the OKC Thunder, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the defending champion Boston Celtics. Anything to do with the title, you had to get through them. The Pacers weren’t quite there yet. They would first have to face off against the Milwaukee Bucks for a rematch of last year’s first round. But it is worth noting that Milwaukee is a noticeably worse team this time around. Couple that with an injury to star Damen Lillard, and the series became a formality at that point. So we thought the front court Trent to tie it and he does another second half tie trying to create space clock down it’s Trent and he buries 10 assist with a three. Oh, connects no left. Slight difference. Game clock, shot clock. Hallebertton ties it. T back to Hallebertton. Wind lines up the three. He’s got the last nine. Jiannis, he wanted to get Yiannis in roll to take away his ability to help defend. It’s going to [Music] Trent. He’ll fire it. Oh, he’s on fire. 42 minutes for Giannis, 44 for Green as he buries another Trent. The three. Oh, it continues. Seven-point lead. Nemhard with it. Three. Good. Still time to go here. He showed up. The steel fourpoint game. There’s still life in the building. Allebertton attacking and the foul. 17.1 to go to Green. Trent with it and he loses it on a brilliant night. Gary Trent Jr. Here we go. Hallebertton. 5 seconds. 4 seconds. Hallebertton for the lead. 1.3 to go. Pacers by one. Here’s Gary Trent Jr. Let it fly. And the Pacers are moving on. What a comeback in overtime. It was easily one of the most unbelievable things that a lot of NBA fans had ever seen. The Pacers were down by seven with just under 40 seconds left. Up until that point, there had been over 1,600 teams dating back to 1977 that also found themselves in this situation. Of those 1610 teams, one of them went on to win the game. That one team, the one you just watched, they pulled off the impossible to close out the series. And now it was on to their real test, one of those title picks that we talked about earlier. After a game one win, there was no denying it anymore. This team can compete with the best. And with game two now a must-win for Cleveland, they would respond accordingly. Mitchell stops on a dive to spin the fake. Offensive brilliance. Mitchell extra feed. Unreal. First miss in four attempts. Mitchell is [Applause] in this quarter. Here comes Mitchell with a scary sight and contact. He will not stop. Mitchell shadow double team gets it to Struus from deep. Can they hold him off here? Final 66 seconds. Hallebertton chiseling to the cup. That’ll to play it out. They get it into the hands of Mitchell. And now Siakum is called for the bump. That’s not what they wanted. No, Rick Hollow did not want a foul there. That’s career. Seakum contact boy. Nearly got it to drop. That’ll put Seyakum at the line. And just keep in mind what Indiana did in that clincher against Milwaukee. Look at that stick back. Knee Smith in Cleveland. This is all you want in the NBA playoffs. 47 seconds. Contact. Mitchell and Mith offensive and they may have to look at the inbound Hallebertton. And here we go. 10 seconds. Kim hard on the wing. Seakum attacks and lays it in. It’s a onepossession game. 27.5. Do you foul here immediately if you’re Rick Carlau? I I do. Oh my goodness. There’s a steal. Nim hard. 25 seconds. Unbelievable. And and really the Cavs have struggled the entire game getting the ball inbound. Hallebertton sizes up Jerome. And here he comes to the cup contact and Hallebertton is going to shoot free throws. They don’t have a timeout. Kenny Atkinson, so he can’t challenge. No, that’s a great call. If you’re the C, your guys have got to do a much better job of getting open. Misses Hallebertton the rebound. 9 seconds. They do have a timeout. Carile’s going to let him play. Hallebertton steps back and hits. Tyrese Hallebertton trying to take Cleveland’s heart. And it is over. The Indiana Pacers in a game two stunner. Unbelievable. [Applause] They did it again. They actually did it again. And with that, there was increasing belief that this team was probably the best team in the Eastern Conference. But it was time for them to remove all doubt from that conversation. Now they are attacking the basketball. Nmith Turner Toppin coming back door. Hallebertton probing topping. Corner three. Splash. Reset. Hallebertton on the attack. Slithers to the cup. Shot clock down to four. Seakum crosses over Wade. Fires and hits again. Here’s a challenge for an offense to deal with. Look at McConnell. He is picking them apart. Kevin Mitchell is now two of nine from the field. Turner puts it down. Miles Turner flexing on the cap. Turner. Offensive brilliance from the Pacers. Ending lead in this series. [Applause] Bton. Out to Turner. Boy, if this was a boxing match, they’d stop it right now. It’s a 152 Pacers run and they smell blood in the water. Turner, what is happening here? It has been an offensive clinic by Indiana. Next up was the New York Knicks, who weren’t one of the three title picks coming into the playoffs, but like the Pacers, had just beaten one of those teams in the previous round in the Boston Celtics. So, it really wasn’t going to get any easier for them. And game one proved that. [Applause] Nmith hits the three. And also if you would have told me with Brunson, another three by four with Brunson and Towns or whoever the center is guarding on the other team. Three Brunson. New York is 11 of 29 shooting threes about 38% Hallebertton his three is good but again trading baskets Hallebertton with 27 the other way with a screen from Shepard he’ll roll and he’ll find the defensive heart knee Smith three good got it shot clock at seven Brunson with it he’ll make a move fly inside And a big basket for punching on him one-on-one. And I’m surprised they don’t have Miles Turner, the rim protector on the floor as well. Bith three. Good. Another one from outside. Under a minute to go. Hard is right there. Pressure by the Pacers. Towns. Bridges. Towns to the hole. Nmith again. Three. Got it. Five consecutive threes for Nith. Bridges to inbound. cutting Brunson inside. Anobi bobbled the ball. Oh, they’ll challenge this. After review, it’s been deemed that Sakum makes legal contact with the basketball, dislodging it. Any contact afterward is deemed incidental. It’s Indiana basketball sideline out of bounds. And they’re down by five with a half minute to go. Controversy there was. Nmith. It’s a three. It’s a two-point game. It’s a two-point game with 22 seconds to go. It was a 14point lead with two and a half to go. Wow. Brunson to inbound. Lee Smith on the ball. Oh, he slapped it. Oh, he did. And it’s picked up by Hart. Now Brunson splits the knee. Bri flies. Feeds. Clock is ticking. There’s a topping foul on Towns. Playoffs. He’s 92% from a free throw line. Oh, he’s got 33. [Applause] And a timeout taken. Kick out three. Nimhard. Knee Smith. They’re going to call it on the floor. And he has scored 19 points in this fourth quarter for Indiana. Leave anyone in or he’s just going to run down the floor cuz you can’t grab him. One-point game. Hard to inbound. Brunson’s got it. Throws it away, but kept up right there. Anobi and quickly fouled by Seakkum. Wow. It was a 14-point lead for the Knicks 119. And a missed free throw right there. We’ve seen Hallebertton be special in these moments. We talked about that, right? We want to see Magic. What better place here than in Broadway? Two-point game. Indiana with it. [Applause] Hallelbertton. He’ll take it. He’ll backpedal. A three for the win. [Applause] [Music] He’s got [Music] one of the best closers. People talking about him being overrated. Overrated. They got to make sure he got all the way behind the line. He certainly got it off in plenty of time. Oh, I think that’s a two. That is a two. You’re right. I think that’s going to be a two. That only ties the game. That ties the game. We’re going to be going to overtime. We sure are. Okay. No, it’s official. This is one of the most unreal, borderline demonic playoff runs I’ve ever seen. But even with the playoff run that the Pacers are currently having, Tyrese Hallebertton really hadn’t had a signature performance yet. He’s had the moments. He’s had the shots, but he just hasn’t had the game. But as we’ve established already, when this team senses any doubt, they usually respond. by Har numbers the other way in the corner. Free first time in 20 years. One of the best coaches in this league for a long time. Indiana 463 [Applause] caliber one three has lost seven points for Indie and here’s the touch off by Seattle on the defensive number three the question I think he’s looking over his shoulder so to speak with the three from the outside Oh, in the corner field second time right side steel and giving it right back three. You can’t put too much into it. Hallebertton home underneath wide open with the trailer got it back inside. It’s a twoon one with the trailer in Siaka. The ground is in. Brunson foul and Smith stop Jaylen Brunson over the course of this series more than it is to just stop. He has to work a lot harder against me than he does against these other guys. This bodess well for them open on the glass. Panther is in. Got the feed. Takes it to the foul. Shot clock at three. Hallebertton for three. Cibido know that he was comfortable and that he supported his decision. He told me heaving, driving, scoring. Goes on top. It’s top end for three. Scores. That’ll do it. Then Tyrese Hallebertton with his 15th assist. Another [Music] 30 piece for Siako. To me, this series was won and lost in game one by the Knicks. Long shot Hallebertton. No. Tyrese Hallebertton has gone mad. It’s been a quarter of a century since Indiana has gone to the finals. But for the first time in 25 years, they are going to the NBA Finals. [Applause] Two title teams down, one to go. The OKC Thunder, who during the season had one of the greatest defenses in the history of the NBA. They won 68 games, the fourth most wins ever in a single season. And the team featured Shea Guildas Alexander who won the 2025 MVP. They were Goliath for basically the entire year. But it was time to see what happens when a generational defense meets a great offense with some devil magic thrown in. Finds Turnup. Poked away. Another turnover from Top of N. Stolen. That ball again. Poked away. Boy, the passing lens are narrow and OKC. Stolen by door. Another turnover. Here comes Carusos. Stumbled by Caruso. Largest lead of the game. Timeout Indiana. Gets inside. Back out. Obby top of three-pointer. Got it. Obby Toppen again. His fourth three-pointer of the game in these playoffs. Six and two. Files. Turner from downtown. His first three-pointer. Gets it again. Double team. Toppin. Three-pointer. Puts it in. Obie Toppen. That open man. Turner side step, banks in the three. Miles Turner wanted to shoot. Caruso wouldn’t let him. Nesmith drills it. Rattles it home. Ball handler at this point in time cuz the defense has been so aggressive. Nhard steps back. Three-pointer. Got it. Three-pointer from Nimhard. Nimhard and Wallace. Step back. Three-pointer. Short rebound. The follow. Seakum puts it in. Has it. There’s about a 9-second difference. Shot clock and game clock. Gildus Alexander spins, pulls up, jumper off the mark, won’t go. Rebound knee. A Pacers with a chance to win it. Final seconds, no fouls to give. Hallebertton looking. Hallebertton driving. Pulls off. Jump shot. It’s good. It’s good. With 3/10 of a second remaining. Time out. OKC. Tyrese Hallebertton does it again. A Tyresese Hallebertton gamewinner seems to just be a guarantee at this point. The Pacers have already done their job so far. Win one of the first two on the road and they did it while overcoming a seemingly insurmountable amount of turnovers. 24 to be exact. Game two doesn’t really even matter at this point. You’d like to have game two, but if not, hey, you already did your job. The real question mark is game three. McConnell play catch inside. Beautiful pass. Nmith moving without the ball. Stolen by McConnell. Throws it off Wallace. Pacers have it. What was your experience with TJ? Dude, so annoying. [Music] Good luck to you. All right. Georgia steal off the Seaka. Mate McConnell with a rebound. Touch pass inside. Knapper in McConnell the crossover pull up jump shot puts it ahead. PJ McConnell. Nimhar got it. Second opportunities. McConnell on the scale and he bats it home. He’s done it again. Matan inside left-handed off the glass. Matan madness. He’s got 25. The Pacers dream of their first NBA title. Very much alive. They’re two wins away from a championship. It is officially scary hours. But with OKC responding in game four in the manner in which we expected them to respond in game three, the Pacers are all of a sudden on the ropes pretty much for the first time the entire run. Tied two to2 against an absolute juggernaut of a team with two road games left, if there even is a game seven. Every game from now on is the most important game. But unfortunately, things were about to get even more difficult than they already were. Some calls and not balls in game four. That was greatly appreciated by the officiating staff. Hallebertton falls down. Caruso just checked in. Drives layup. It’s good. So now with Tyrese Hallebertton suffering a calf strain, the Pacers window was rapidly closing. Players usually are pretty cautious with calf injuries because playing on them can sometimes lead to something worse. Even with time off, you still sometimes see players suffer worse injuries as a result. But even though he would be hobbled, he understands the opportunity that both he and the Pacers have in front of them right now. But ultimately, the decision is usually up to the team. And right before game six, we got the answer. He said he’s had a lot of honest conversations with a lot of people about it, but said if he didn’t at least give it a chance, it would be a decision he’d regret for the rest of his life. Mike. All right, Lisa. And a decision for Hallebertton and his staff. If he’s not doing well, he’s got to say, “I’m not ready tonight.” on the attack. Count it. And a foul. Comes up the floor. Nemo corner three. Williams hauls it in. TJ McConnell forces another turnover. Bad pass back to the rim. Turner goes high for the rebound. Hallebertton’s going to try. Finley gets one to go. Tyrese Hallebertton from downtown in the front court. Hallebertton. Step back. Three-pointer. It’s good. His second three-pointer of the game. Rarely see that from home. Nice with the three. Puts it in. Seakum into the heart of the defense and Nesmith flips it up and in. 16 points throws it away. Hallebert comes out with it crosscourt. Seakum for the slam. The two best words in the sport. Game seven. This is it. This is what everyone here has been building towards their entire life. Everything in the last decade for Miles Turner leads up to this. and really the entire Pacers organization. They had a lot of people rooting for them at this point just because of their story getting here. They didn’t go out of their way to try to get as many star players as possible. They didn’t construct some crazy team. It was ultimately just a bunch of guys that quite frankly other teams didn’t want coming together and building this from the ground up. And it was all relying on this one game. And what a gift for the NBA fan. Although it’s been torture for both the fans of the Pacers and the Thunder at times. OKC nearly unbeatable at home. Nimhard knocks down the first shot of the night. Back to Andrew Near. Seakum left wide open and Pascal. Seakum buries his first three-pointer. Now puts it on the floor. Little Bay kicks it back out. Seakum. Hallebert lines up a long three-pointer. Got it. Hallebertton launches another one. Puts it in. Backto back threes for Tyrese Hallebertton. Williams tips it, but Haturn right there to pick it up. Hallebertton tries again. Hallebertton hits again. His third three-pointer already. What a start for Tyrese Hallebertton. Kicks it out. Thomas has the door. Falls down. He looks hurt. Here comes SGA the other way inside and Williams throws it down. Hallebertton hurt right away when he fell. That strained calf. He’s in pain. So emotional. Oh, you get in a situation like this, you just sick to your stomach for the young man. We’ll take a timeout. [Applause] He knew the risk, but it meant so much for him to be out there with his teammates. There was no way he wasn’t going to play. Yeah, I know that you’re all thinking about him, but like you said, you’ve still got a job to do. So, how do you get it done without him? Yeah, you keep it keeping your mind, keep your heart going with him. Seakum goes inside the drive, the finish. Seakum high arcing jump shot looking to get inside. Homegrren discourages him. Tries again. That’s good without their all-star point guard Mat drills the three-pointer. Nimhard fires up a three. Got it. Andrew Nimhard from way downtown. Pacers take the lead. Matford gets it back. Kicks it out. Seakum. Pascal Seyakum with the answer. The spin. The pass. Williams open three. That one bounces in. Hesitant right now cuz she’s got three. McConnell penetration and finish once again. McConnell on the drive. Pulls off shot. It’s good. McConnell mayhem once again. McConnell so confident gets to the rim and scores again. TJ McConnell pulls up, puts it in. It out the corner. Kase Wallace puts it a three. Williams to the basket. That lethal left hand once again from Jaylen Williams. Another 24 three-pointer. SGA puts it in. Feels like the celebration is underway here at the Pacop Center. It’s a painful ending to what has been one of the most inspiring playoff runs the league has ever seen. They will fall one game short. For the first time, the NBA champion resides in Oklahoma City. The storybook season is complete. They may have been the favorites, but they had to fight tooth and nail in this series against a terrific pacer team. first row. I’ll start. I’ll start. I I first want to congratulate uh Mark Dagnal, one of the great young coaches in all of professional sports. um and his team. This was uh this was a great series. I’m so proud of our players. I’m so proud of our organization. Our fans showed up big time tonight. It was really moving. Um what happened with Tyrese is uh just all of our hearts dropped, but he will be back. Um, I’m not I don’t have any medical information about what’s what what may or may not have happened, but he’ll be back in time and um, you know, I I believe he’ll make a full recovery. So, he he authored one of the great um individual playoff runs in the history of the NBA with dramatic play after dramatic play. It was just something that no one’s ever seen. Um, and did it as one of 17, you know, that’s that’s the beautiful thing about him. Um, as great a player as he is, it’s it’s it’s always a team thing. And so, um, our hearts uh, go out to to him. Um but so proud of of everyone. The effort that our guys poured into the fourth quarter to win the quarter u by one point um was epic and it was just it was symbolic of of what this team stands for um what basketball in Indiana stands for and that there was um there was no surrender. It was just uh you know it was all defiant fight till the end. And so I I told these guys coming into this that you know there’s no there’s no feel-good scenario when you get to the finals and and are unable to get it done. And it really hurts um on the one hand. On the other hand, this team has given um all of Pacer Nation something to be very proud of. So questions. [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

A documentary detailing the 2025 NBA playoff run from the Indiana Pacers, and what led up to it. If you guys enjoyed this video, be sure to hit the like button and slap the sub button with your nose (also the bell).

As always with the long form videos, if you watched to the end, thank you 🙂

Klay Thompson Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zkamb8Xkoc

Warriors Redemption Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ6IYfW8DX0