Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton is currently dealing with shingles.

Shingles is a byproduct of chickenpox, which means anybody who’s ever had chickenpox has the shingles virus in them. The virus creates blister-like sores that can stay on the body for weeks. Many patients experience pain in the affected areas years after the rash clears. 

Generally speaking, most shingles patients are older. However, high stress, a weakened immune system, medications or isolation can cause someone under 35 to get shingles.

Haliburton suffered a torn Achilles tendon during Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals. Since then, he’s been in a rigorous recovery process to be ready to return by opening night 2026. This recovery process can cause high amounts of stress, along with requiring lots of medication. Haliburton has admitted that the virus has made his recovery more difficult. 

“It’s been miserable. I have good days and bad days, but for the most part, it’s been bad days. I’ve been taking unbelievable amounts of medication to try to get rid of it. It hasn’t worked. It’s not been fun, and hopefully it goes away soon. It’s hard to really tell with nerve pain, but I’ve been dealing now with nerve pain for two months, and in the world of nerve pain, that’s not very long. Hopefully it goes away soon.” Haliburton said. 

The Pacers played their final game of the season on April 12. They lost to the Detroit Pistons 133-121. Obi Toppin scored 21 points off the bench for the Pacers, while Kobe Brown scored 20. The Pistons won thanks to Paul Reed scoring 26 points and Tobias Harris scoring 24 points. 

The Pacers finished with a record of 19-63. This was the second-worst record in the NBA, only behind the Washington Wizards. They will need to finish in the top four in the draft lottery to keep their draft pick.

Mac McClung has signed a multiyear contract with the Indiana Pacers.

The signing took place on Tuesday, and per the Pacers’ Twitter account, McClung will wear No. 3.

McClung has had three straight slam dunk titles for the past three years. This contract makes it the first standard NBA deal for McClung.

The Pacers are dealing with numerous key player injuries, including those to their guards and wings, making McClung a valuable reinforcement to have.

So far in the 2025-2026 NBA season, McClung has played 13 minutes with the Pacers in a game against the Dallas Mavericks, which they lost 107-105.

During those 13 minutes of play time, McClung made 7 points, had one assist and two rebounds.

The Pacers have a 0-4 record.

In a gut-wrenching moment, Indiana Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton suffered a serious leg injury during the first quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night. Midway through the opening quarter, Haliburton attempted to drive to the basket, fell to the floor and was in immense pain as he pounded on the floor. He remained on the court before being helped off.

The immediate fear among fans was that Haliburton had suffered an Achilles injury, given that it was the same leg on which he had strained his calf in Game 5. Haliburton’s father, John, through ESPN’s Lisa Salters, confirmed that the Pacers star had indeed suffered an Achilles injury.

“Mike, I just spoke to Tyrese Haliburton’s father, who has been back in the locker room with his son,” Salters said. “Mr. Haliburton confirmed that it is an Achilles injury.”

“And he said that Tyrese is doing as well as he can be under the circumstances. The entire family is back there with him. His mom, his dad, his brother. He said that he seems to be in good spirits watching the game, and he’s trying to root on his team back in the locker room.”

Though the Pacers managed to keep the game close into the third quarter, the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled away by the end of the third quarter and went on to win the championship.

The Pacers and Haliburton’s season ended in absolutely heartbreaking fashion, but after the loss, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle praised Haliburton for putting in an all-time performance during their improbable postseason run.

“What happened with Tyrese, just all of our hearts dropped,” Carlisle told reporters. “He will be back. I don’t have any medical information about what may or may not have happened, but he’ll be back in time. I believe he’ll make a full recovery. He authored one of the great 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, and did it as one of 17. That’s the beautiful thing about him. As great of a player as he is, it’s always a team thing. Our hearts go out to him.”

The Oklahoma City Thunder are the 2024-25 NBA champions. The Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers in Sunday’s Game 7, 103-91, behind a dominant second-half defensive performance and a star showing from 2024-25 MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Gilgeous-Alexander had 29 points, 12 assists, five rebounds, two blocks and one steal in the series-clincher. While he didn’t light it up from the field shooting just 8-27 field goal attempts and missing 10 three-pointers, he got it done at the free throw line as he has all year long, making 11-of-12 at the stripe.

Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t do it alone as Jalen Williams pitched in 20 points and Chet Holmgren added 18 points, eight rebounds and an NBA Finals Game 7 record five blocked shots.

The Indiana Pacers put up a good fight, considering they lost Tyrese Haliburton early in the game to an Achilles injury. Haliburton hit three big three-pointers before he went down. The Pacers just kept grinding.

T.J. McConnell stepped up again with 16 points, and Benedict Mathurin led the Pacers in scoring with 24 points, with both players coming off the bench. The Pacers managed to take a one-point lead into halftime, but the Thunder defense in the second half was just too much to overcome as the Thunder forced 21 turnovers while just turning the ball over seven times on offense.

McConnell was the only Pacer to score during a long stretch in the third, and the Thunder extended the lead to as much as 22 in the fourth quarter before a late push by the Pacers made the final score look closer than it felt.

This is the Thunder’s first championship since the franchise relocated to Oklahoma (the Seattle Supersonics won the title in 1979). This year’s Thunder team is the youngest team to win a championship in four decades, so there will be a lot of pressure on the team to repeat next year, just as people expected a return trip to the Finals by the 2024 NBA champion Boston Celtics.

The Oklahoma City Thunder were up 3-2 in the series and needed to close the series to end the 2024-25 season on Thursday with an NBA Championship. The Indiana Pacers were backed into a corner and they fought out of it.

After back-to-back losses to the Thunder, the Pacers were on the ropes. The Thunder’s defense kicked into gear in Game 5, forcing 23 turnovers and holding the Pacers to 36.7% from three. Worse, the Pacers left Bricktown with star point guard Tyrese Haliburton hobbled by a calf strain that contributed to his worst shooting game of the postseason as he shot 0-of-6 from the field and scored only four points, all of which came from free throws.

Haliburton started on Thursday, with Pacers coach Rick Carlisle warning the team “will watch and monitor things closely.” There was no need for that, as Haliburton got off to a rocky start, missing his first four shots. Haliburton bounced back and scored eight points in the second quarter, and he was up to 14 by the end of the third. Pascal Siakam added 16 points and 13 rebounds to the Pacers’ blowout victory. By the start of the fourth, the Thunder had emptied their bench as scores of media members overloaded Orbitz for one more flight to Oklahoma as they tied the series with a 108-91 Game 6 win.

“I wanted to be out there to compete with my brothers,” Haliburton said. “These are guys that I’m willing to go to war with and we’ve had such a special year, and we have a special bond as a group. I’d beat myself up if I didn’t give it a chance.”

When Haliburton was not on the floor, T.J. McConnell was doing just as much damage to the Thunder’s defense as he scored 12 points, collected nine rebounds and dished out six assists. He had four steals on Thursday and is averaging 2.3 per game in the Finals. The team that has won the bench battle has won every game in this series. The feisty McConnell was a big reason why the Pacers took this game over.

“I think in the Finals, especially in our series right now, all these games are coming down to the margins,” Haliburton said. “That’s what’s important, can you win the rebound battle, can you win the turnover battle, can you set the tone from a physicality standpoint? Those are all what’s been very important through all these games and I feel like whoever has done that has won the game.”

The NBA Finals are set to have two fresh teams as the Indiana Pacers are making the franchise’s first NBA Finals appearance since 2000, and the Oklahoma City Thunder are making their first trip to the NBA Finals since 2012.

The NBA didn’t use to have jersey patch sponsors. When the league moved to Nike as the NBA’s official uniform and apparel marker in 2017, jersey sponsorships came into play. Oftentimes, franchises choose a local tie-in for their jersey sponsor.

Who Is Sponsoring The Indiana Pacers?

The Pacers have an eye-grabbing sponsorship patch on their jersey as the Pacers sponsor, Spokenote, includes a fully functional QR code that unlocks Pacers content for fans, including some that can’t be seen anywhere else.

The team announced the sponsorship in January 2024, calling the Pacers the first major professional sports franchise in the United States to sport a QR code-like jersey patch.

Spokenote is an Indiana-based tech startup that allows users to pair videos with a unique code. Personal users have used the technology to enhance thank you notes, greeting cards, home deliveries and other personal interactions, while businesses use Spokenote to engage their stakeholders and customers.

The Pacers won the 2024 NBA Changemaker of the Year award for the partnership with Spokenote and creating the first scannable code patch on an NBA jersey.

Who Is Sponsoring The Oklahoma City Thunder?

The sponsor for the Thunder is Love’s Travel Stops, which is a truck-stop chain that was founded in Western Oklahoma. Their heart-shaped branding is adorned on each Thunder jersey. The Love’s heart logo is the only jersey sponsor the franchise has had, which is somewhat of a rarity across the NBA.

Love’s has partnered with the franchise long before the NBA allowed jersey sponsors, so the highway hospitality giant jumped at the opportunity to have their logo on the Thunder uniforms.

Love’s and the Thunder announced they extended their partnership in April 2023. The expanded partnership brought the logo patch beyond Thunder jerseys to include youth jerseys for the YMCA Thunder Basketball League, which meant YMCA athletes in Oklahoma got to wear the exact same jerseys as their favorite team.

The comeback kids tried their hardest, but couldn’t pull off one more miracle.

The Oklahoma City Thunder took a 3-2 lead over the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals, winning 120-109. The Thunder led by as much as 18, and despite making the game close at times, the Pacers never led in the second half.

Jalen Williams led the way for OKC, finishing with 40 points and six rebounds on 14-25 from the field. NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 31 points and ten assists.

Williams also finished with a game-high 14 points.

“I’m blessed to be in a situation where everybody wants everyone to succeed,” Williams said. “It’s a fortunate situation that I get to be in.”

Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton injured his calf in the first quarter and was limping off the court. He returned in the second quarter but was impacted by the injury.

Haliburton finished with just four points, his lowest total of both the Finals and the playoffs.

“It’s the Finals, man. I’ve worked my whole life to be here, and I want to be out there to compete,” Haliburton said.

Pascal Siakam was the Pacers’ leading scorer, finishing with 28 points on 9-15 from the field. T.J. McConnell led all bench players with 18 points off the bench.

Game six is on Thursday in Indiana. If the Thunder win, they become the 2025 NBA Champions. If the Pacers win, they force a game seven.

The Oklahoma City Thunder took care of business against the Indiana Pacers in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday night, scoring a 120-109 win and with it a 3-2 lead in the series.

The Pacers struggled throughout the night, with Tyrese Haliburton, who had been at the center of so many of the team’s comebacks this postseason, having a brutal game. Haliburton was held scoreless in the first half – his first scoreless half in his postseason career – and ultimately finished the game with just four points, all of which came from the foul line.

Haliburton was still working through his leg injury, as Pacers coach Rick Carlisle made clear after the game. But despite the injury, Haliburton was adamant that he was not going to be taken off the floor for the Pacers. Asked why he tried to play through his injury after the game, Haliburton’s answer was short and simple.

“I mean, it’s the NBA Finals. It’s the Finals, man,” Haliburton said. “I’ve worked my whole life to be here, and I want to be out there to compete. Help my teammates any way I can. I was not great tonight by any means, but it was not really a thought to not play here. If I can walk, then I want to play. They understand that. It is what it is, and I’ve got to be ready to go in Game 6.”

Given Haliburton’s resilience in playing through his injury, questions have been asked about whether closing Game 5 out with him was the right decision due to his struggles throughout the game and with backup guard T.J. McConnell having 18 points in 22 minutes, with 13 of those points being scored in the third quarter.

With how Carlisle talked about Haliburton’s injury, it sounds like the nagging injury isn’t going to be gone before Game 6 tips off on Thursday. Haliburton will be out there no matter what, but how effective he can be as a player remains an open question.

The Indiana Pacers reclaimed the lead in the NBA Finals on Wednesday night with a 116-107 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 due to a huge boost from their bench and a better game from the stars.

Bennedict Mathurin scored a game-high 27 points off the bench, which is the most points for a reserve in an NBA Finals game since Jason Terry in 2011, and T.J. McConnell had five steals, leading the way as the Pacers’ bench outscored the Thunder’s 49-18.

Tyrese Haliburton added 22 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds while Pascal Siakam scored 21 points as the Pacers took a 2-1 series advantage over the heavily favored Thunder.

“This is the kind of team that we are,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “We need everybody to be ready. It’s not always going to be exactly the same guys that are stepping up with scoring and stuff like that, but this is how we got to do it. We got to do it as a team.”

Mathurin was the catalyst on Wednesday as he became the sixth player since the NBA/ABA merger in 1976-77 to score 25 or more points in the Finals at age 22 or younger, joining the likes of Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James, Tony Parker, Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson.

“He did a great job of coming off handoffs, reading the pocket, rising up from midrange,” Hailiburton said postgame. “This is a defense that will give that up.”

The Pacers got a huge spark from McConnell, who scored 10 points with five assists to go along with five steals, numbers no player has ever put up in an NBA Finals game.

“That’s the great thing about the Finals, great thing about basketball,” Haliburton said postgame. “When you have a team with this much depth, it can be anybody’s night.”

The Pacers now find themselves in control of the series. Teams that win Game 3 of a 1-1 NBA Finals have gone on to win 80.5% of the time, and the Pacers remain unbeaten after a loss in the 2025 postseason, improving to 5-0. The Pacers have not dropped back-to-back games since March 8 and 10.

The NBA Finals are underway between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers. Both franchises are competing for their first NBA Finals championship.

Each NBA team since 2017, when Nike became the NBA’s official apparel maker, has had jersey sponsorships.

The Thunder and Pacers each have logos on their jerseys that make sense for their franchise and are unique to them.

Oklahoma City Thunder Jersey Sponsor

Love’s Travel Stops is the jersey sponsor for the Thunder. The company is the only jersey sponsor the Thunder have ever had.

In April 2023, the Thunder and Love’s agreed to extend their partnership, adding their logo to youth athlete jerseys in Oklahoma.

The company was founded in Oklahoma 61 years ago. Their headquarters are in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Indiana Pacers Jersey Sponsor

The Pacers have arguably the most unique jersey sponsor logo in the NBA. The sponsor is Spokenote, which has a QR code placed on Pacers jerseys that unlocks content for Pacers fans.

The team has been the jersey sponsor for the Pacers since January 2024 and helped the Pacers become the first team with a functional QR code on a jersey.

Spokenote is based in Indiana and is a company that allows consumers to pair videos with a QR code.

Team jerseys can be purchased online at official team stores.

An Indiana Pacers fan has been charged after allegedly stabbing a New York Knicks fan at a game two watch party in Indianapolis.

Jarrett Funke, 24, has been charged with battery by means of a deadly weapon, criminal recklessness and battery by the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office, according to court documents.

The incident reportedly started when Funke was harassing two Knicks fans, challenging them to a fight. Police at the bar, Danny Boy Beer Works, told Funke and his family to leave.

After Funke was escorted out, the two Knicks fans stepped onto the patio to smoke. Funke allegedly returned and continued harassing them, to which one of the Knicks fans briefly pulled out his pocket knife.

Funke lunged at the man and stabbed him in the back with his own knife, according to court documents. Funke attempted to flee but was stopped in the parking lot by police.

Following interviews with witnesses, investigators concluded that Funke was the aggressor in the situation. Patrons feared the man who was stabbed might die.

Funke is being held at the Hamilton County Jail and was denied bond last week.

The victim reportedly is suffering from a torn lung.

After being barred from eight games following a confrontation with Milwaukee Bucks star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, John Haliburton, Tyrese Haliburton‘s father, has been on his best behavior after being allowed to attend Indiana Pacers home games going forward.

John Haliburton was initially barred from both home and away games on May 1, which was two days after he and Antetokounmpo got into it following the Pacers’ series win over the Bucks. The moment was over relatively quickly, and Antetokounmpo noted afterwards that he felt disrespected by Haliburton, but spoke with him later, and they are now in a good place.

When the ban went through, Tyrese, who previously made clear that he did not condone his father’s actions, said that he understood the decision the Pacers made.

Inside the NBA’s Charles Barkley called for John Haliburton‘s ban to be lifted after the Pacers won Game 2 of the ECF vs. the Knicks on Friday.

“It’s time to let Mr. Haliburton back in the building,” Barkley said Wednesday. “[Commissioner Adam Silver], I’m asking you… Hey, my man paid his dues. He did something really, really stupid. But he’s been punished. I’m asking you and the Indiana Pacers to let Mr. Haliburton back in the building for Games 3 and 4. Listen, he paid his dues. It shouldn’t be indefinite. He’s been punished enough, he will never do anything that stupid again.”

The Indiana Pacers were slated to travel to Oklahoma City on Tuesday in preparation for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night. The weather has thrown a wrench in the Pacers’ plans.

As inclement weather rippled across Oklahoma, the Pacers’ plane had to be diverted from Oklahoma City to Tulsa due to tornado warnings. The plane circled Oklahoma City for a bit before heading to Tulsa to refuel. Nearly two hours later, they were finally able to land.

Teams usually arrive a few days in advance of the opening NBA Finals game to acclimate to a new environment and participate in media days.

The Thunder are hosting their first NBA Finals since 2012, while the Pacers are appearing in the Finals for the first time since 2000.

“You spend so much time thinking about getting there, but it’s like, you’re here now,” Pacers center Myles Turner said before the team left Indianapolis. “You didn’t really spend a lot of time thinking about, ‘OK, when I’m here, I’m going to do this, I’m going to do that.’ It’s like, ‘Let’s just get there.’ … So now, that milestone has been achieved. It’s about doing something with the opportunity.”

There was at least one tornado spotted in Norman, Oklahoma, near the University of Oklahoma campus, on Tuesday afternoon when the Pacers were waiting things out in Tulsa. It was not immediately known if the tornado touched down or caused any damage.

Norman is about 20 miles south of Oklahoma City. Tulsa is about 120 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.

After a hard-fought series, Indiana Pacers star point guard Tyrese Haliburton got the last laugh against the New York Knicks. Their fans, as the Pacers won the playoff series in six games and are now going to the NBA Finals to face the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Knicks fans have shown their disdain for the Pacers and their star point guard to the point where celebrity fans are getting in the middle of this back-and-forth rivalry between the Knicks and the Pacers.

Before Saturday’s Game 6 matchup, there was a clip of Haliburton arriving at Gainbridge Fieldhouse circulating online. In the clip, Haliburton was walking down a corridor dressed all in black, which references the Knicks doing the same before last year’s Game 6 playoff matchup.

Actor and comedian Ben Stiller was focusing on one thing in the Haliburton arrival video, and it was the black duffel bag that the two-time All-Star was carrying.

“Good thing he brought his duffel for the flight to NY,” Stiller tweeted.

Stiller was implying that the Knicks were going to win Game 6 and send the series back to New York for a Game 7.

The statement did not look good for Stiller in retrospect, as the Pacers went on to win Game 6 in a 125-108 victory over the Knicks and eliminated them from the NBA playoffs for the second year in a row.

Pascal Siakam was efficient as he accounted for 31 points, five rebounds and three blocks as he shot 10-of-18 from the field and 3-of-5 from three-point range while also winning Eastern Conference finals MVP. Haliburton accounted for 21 points, six rebounds, 13 assists and three steals while Andrew Nembhard accounted for 14 points, eight assists and six steals.

After celebrating the Pacers’ victory, Haliburton responded to Stiller on X.

“Nah, was to pack y’all up,” Haliburton replied.

Stiller tweeted back with no hard feelings on the star point guard, wishing him and the Pacers well in their upcoming NBA Finals matchup with the Thunder.

“Congrats,” Stiller said. “All the best in OKC.”

In the Eastern Conference finals, the road team has been the one to win each game as the Indiana Pacers won Games 1 and 2 in New York while the New York Knicks won Game 3 against the Pacers in Indiana. A lot of pressure was on the Pacers and star point guard Tyrese Haliburton to win Game 4 and go to New York up three-to-one on the Knicks, and he answered the call.

Haliburton recorded a 32-point, 15-assist and 12-rebound triple-double to lead the Pacers to a 130-121 victory that gave them a commanding 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference and one game away from the NBA Finals.

Haliburton is one of three players to record 30+ points, 12+ rebounds and 15+ assists in a playoff game, joining Oscar Robertson in 1962 and Nikola Jokic in 2023. The one thing that makes this stat line so historic is that he did all of this production without turning the ball over, which has never been done before in playoff history.

“I was just trying to be aggressive,” Haliburton said postgame. “Just trying to play my best. I felt like I let the team down in Game 3. I could have been so much better. I felt like I responded the right way today.”

Haliburton and the Pacers set the tone from the start. Pascal Siakam scored 30 points, shooting 11-of-21 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point range. Contributions from Aaron Nesmith and Myles Turner helped the Pacers offensively and defensively as they combined for 29 points, three blocks and two steals. One of the biggest contributors was Bennedict Mathurin, who had only 12 minutes in Game 4 but took advantage of every minute out there. He scored 20 points and got to the free-throw line multiple times, as he was 10-of-11 from the line.

The Pacers shot 51.1% from the field and 40.6% on 3-pointers in Game 4.

“Just getting back to us,” said Nesmith postgame. “Playing our game and doing what we do best. Pushing the pace.”

In addition to Haliburton’s scoring ability, the Pacers had 33 points on 14-of-22 (63.6%) shooting from Haliburton’s passes. He prides himself on getting people the ball without turning the ball over.

“It’s pretty remarkable, but this has become his thing,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said postgame. “There will be a new statistical category, perhaps, named after him somewhere down the line.”

The New York Knicks were entering the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000. This team was confident after beating the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals in six games. At the start of the game, the team was self-assured. The Knicks had as big as a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter against the Indiana Pacers. As the lead dwindled and the team missed shots, all the Knicks thought about was the bounce.

The Pacers came back from a 14-point deficit with three minutes left in the game to force the Knicks into overtime. Star guard Tyrese Haliburton hit the game-tying shot that bounced up in the air and went in. Haliburton uses a choking signal after the shot, indicating the collapse.

This celebration was a callback to Hall of Famer Reggie Miller’s famous gesture to Spike Lee while leading a Pacers comeback over the Knicks in a playoff game in 1994.

“I wasn’t plotting on it or anything,” Haliburton said postgame. “Everybody wanted me to do it last year at some point, but it’s got to feel right. It felt right at the time – well, if I would’ve known it was a 2, I would not have done it. So I think I might’ve wasted it.”

The Pacers did not waste the callback as they went on to win Game 1 with a score of 138-135.

They finished with six players in double figures, with Haliburton leading the team with 31 points and 11 assists. Huge contributions from forward Aaron Nesmith and the Knicks, who turned the ball over eight more times than the Pacers did, allowed the Pacers to take Game 1.

In the loss, the Knicks had four players scoring double figures with impressive offensive outings from star guard Jalen Brunson and center Karl-Anthony Towns, and some impressive defensive outings from star forwards OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges.

Brunson finished the game with 43 points, five assists and shot 60% from the field while Towns finished with 35 points and 12 rebounds. The defensive duo of Anunoby and Bridges accounted for five blocks and four steals.

“In the playoffs, when you win, it’s the best thing ever,” Brunson said postgame. “When you lose, it’s the worst thing ever.”

The Knicks have a chance to tie the series at home on Friday, as Game 2 of the series is on Friday, May 23.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been officially eliminated from the playoffs following their 114-105 loss to the Indiana Pacers in game five of their Eastern Conference semifinals series.

Despite winning 64 games in the regular season, the second most in franchise history, the Cavs’ early departure from the playoffs comes as a disappointment. Cavs star Donovan Mitchell knows his team needs to be better.

“Getting beat down like this and y’all are gonna write some s— about us, man,” Mitchell said. “And that’s gonna be fuel. Fuel for everybody. Y’all gonna say a lot of sh–. Y’all are. And that’s what it takes. I’ve been here. So, I understand, we understand, and we just gotta use it for fuel for next year.”

The Cavs started the playoffs on a hot streak, dominating the Miami Heat in a series that had the largest point differential for a sweep all-time.

Then, Cleveland hit a wall against the Pacers.

The Cavs started game five with a 31-19 lead after the first quarter and led by as much as 19 at one point. The Pacers were able to weather the storm and send the Cavs home early.

Mitchell finished game five with 35 points and nine rebounds. Evan Mobley finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds.

As a team, the Cavs shot under 40% from the field and under 30% from three. Max Strus, who reportedly sent an inspiring message pregame to the team’s group chat, finished with zero points on 0-9 shooting.

“We had to find a way to match it [physicality],” Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson said. “We didn’t. I think we’re built for it, but we weren’t ready for that.”

A fight erupted between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Indiana Pacers early in game four of their Eastern Conference semifinals series.

With less than five minutes left in the first quarter, the Pacers’ Bennedict Mathurin appeared to strike De’Andre Hunter in the midsection while the Pacers were attempting to inbound the ball.

In response, Hunter shoved Mathurin to the ground and a fight ensued.

Mathurin was assessed a flagrant 2 foul and was ejected from the game. Hunter and Myles Turner were given technical fouls for the altercation.

Mathurin was ejected after only playing a single minute. He finished with zero points and one rebound.

“It’s a learning experience for him,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said about Mathurin. “Playoff series’ are chippy and personal. We’ve got to stay out of the weeds.”

Mathurin’s ejection was just about the only thing that went wrong for the Pacers on Sunday night. The Pacers won 129-109, taking a 3-1 lead in the series.

The Pacers led by as much as 44. At halftime, the Pacers led 80-39. The Cavaliers never led.

Pascal Siakam, Obi Toppin and Turner all finished with 20 or more points. Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton only finished with 11 points and five assists in 26 minutes.

As a team, the Pacers shot 52.7% from the field and 42.9% from three.

“I was really proud of our performance,” Haliburton said. “There’s still a lot of work to do. Feel good about this for tonight and move on.”

The Indiana Pacers stormed back to stun the Cleveland Cavaliers 120-119, taking a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Late-game heroics from Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton saved the game.

The Cavaliers led the entire game, at one point leading by as much as 20 points. The Cavs opened the game with a 32-15 first quarter and entered the fourth quarter with a 98-84 lead.

Cleveland was playing the game without DeAndre Hunter and Evan Mobley. Darius Garland, who has missed the past four games with a toe injury, didn’t play either.

Despite missing two starters, the Cavs led 119-116 points with 12.1 seconds left. Haliburton was shooting two free throws at the line. He made the first free throw and grabbed the rebound after missing the second. He ran out to the three-point line and made a step-back three to ice the game.

“I have all the confidence in the world to make these shots,” Haliburton said. “Just trying to make plays out there.”

Haliburton finished the game with 19 points on 7-11 from the field.

The Cavaliers were led by Donovan Mitchell, who finished the game with 48 points on 15-30 from the field. Mitchell took 21 free throws, going 17-21 from the line.

The series heads to Indiana on Friday when the Pacers, up 2-0 in the series, will try to go up 3-0 over the one seed in the Eastern Conference.

Only 34 teams, or 7.4% of teams, have come back to win a series from down 2-0. No team in history has come back from down 3-0.

Last week, The Athletic released its annual “Anonymous NBA player poll,” which got responses from 158 players across 30 teams to answer questions related to the NBA.

One question that received the most attention: Who is the most overrated player in the NBA?

Amongst his peers, Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton was named the most overrated player in the league. 14.4%, or 13 of the 90 players who chose to vote on the question, named Haliburton the most overrated player in the NBA.

Thirty-three different players received votes for the “award.” Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jimmy Butler and LeBron James were among the players who also received votes.

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle was not a fan of the poll. After seeing his star player being called overrated by his peers, Carlisle spoke his mind.

“This is a bulls— poll,” Carlisle said. “I want to see the faces of the guys who voted those guys.”

Haliburton and the Pacers finished the season 50-32, finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference.

His title didn’t faze Haliburton as the most overrated player.

“I must be doing something right if that’s the case,” Haliburton said. “I’m good. I could care less.”

On Tuesday night, Haliburton got the last laugh when he scored the series-winning shot against the Bucks.