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Tyrese Haliburton was baffled by Rick Carlisle’s crunch time move in Game 4

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Renzo Pocholo Salao | Last updated May 28, 2025 9:24 AM ET

Tyrese Haliburton was not a big fan of one of Rick Carlisle’s late-game decisions in Tuesday’s Eastern Conference Finals Game 4 against the New York Knicks.

The Indiana Pacers led the Knicks 120-114 with just over three minutes left at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. Haliburton’s defender, Mikal Bridges, got screened by Pacers big man Myles Turner. That forced Karl-Anthony Towns to switch over to the Pacers guard.

Once he got the slow-footed Knicks center in isolation, Haliburton looked ready to get in his bag for a potential highlight play. But before Tyrese could make a move, Carlisle decided to call a timeout.

The look on Haliburton’s face as TNT cut to commercial said it all.

Tyrese Haliburton COULDN’T BELIEVE Rick Carlisle called a timeout

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Carlisle would have lost the timeout had he not used it before the three-minute mark. That was surely the motivation behind the call.

But getting Towns switched onto Haliburton has been one of the most advantageous halfcourt situations for Indiana throughout the series. Ironically, the play Carlisle drew up during the timeout resulted in Andrew Nembhard attacking Towns. The Pacers guard bricked a contested fading shot along the baseline.

The Pacers held on for a 130-121 win to take Game 4. With the spotlight on him, Haliburton turned in arguably the best game of his playoff career. Indiana’s All-Star finished with 32 points, 12 rebounds, 15 assists, and 4 steals. He did all that while somehow not having a single turnover in the contest.

Tyrese put on quite the show with Papa Haliburton finally allowed to attend a Pacers playoff game in person again.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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