NBA Rumors: Pacers Going Recruit Mode After Tournament Win Over Celtics

The Boston Celtics failed to make it out of the quarterfinal round of the NBA In-Season Tournament, allowing the Indiana Pacers to move on and fuel some newfound confidence moving forward.

Spending years as the team either destined to fail or fall short in the playoffs, the Pacers are now looking to flip the script and franchise star Tyrese Haliburton wants to lead that charge. The 23-year-old, who dropped a 26-point, 10-rebound double-double against the Celtics to punch Indiana’s ticket in the semifinal round with the Bucks, wants to remodel the Pacers.

“Tyrese Haliburton wants to have (an impact like Giannis Antetokounmpo’s with Milwaukee) in Indiana,” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday “NBA Countdown.” “And this is a team with salary cap space and draft picks. And he knows that his team president Kevin Pritchard got really aggressive in the past year, trying to chase players like Pascal Siakim, OG Anunoby in Toronto; offering big trade packages for players who could become free agents in the near future.”

Wojnarowski added on Haliburton’s overall mission: “To use this tournament, use this season to start making the case to star players around the league.”

So far, Haliburton’s done a solid job getting the case started.

On Nov. 1, Haliburton sat out for Indiana’s first matchup with Boston, watching as the Pacers endured a near-record-setting 51-point blowout loss to the Celtics. Yet, as ugly as that was, none of that proved to matter when the stakes were raised and Boston got haunted by two of its biggest blemishes this season: Turnovers (18 committed) and third-quarter scoring (23 points).

Haliburton proved to be a massive difference-maker, keeping the Pacers at a steady 11-8 start to the campaign with plenty of games still scheduled. Having played in 17 of those games, Haliburton has averaged an NBA-leading — and career-high — 11.9 assists with 26.9 points on 52.1% shooting from the field.

Indiana took on Milwaukee in the semifinal round on Thursday night with a chance at reaching the championship.