Tyrese Haliburton just played like Patrick Mahomes in Pacers' playoff beatdown
By Jason Reed
Tyrese Haliburton is firmly establishing himself as one of the best players in the NBA during the Indiana Pacers' deep playoff run. Pacers fans already knew Haliburton had top-10 potential and now the entire NBA world is forced to accept it.
It turns out Haliburton doesn't just have top-10 potential in the NBA, he may have top-10 potential as an NFL quarterback. As silly as that sounds, Haliburton had such a good showing in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals that it is being compared to the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history.
Haliburton dishes out 15 assists without turning the ball over a single time on Tuesday night. If you add up all his passes as if they were pass attempts in the NFL, Haliburton would've completed 77 passes for 444 yards without a single interception. Here is how it stacks up against real NFL games:
Tyrese Haliburton plays like a Hall of Fame quarterback in Pacers' win over Knicks
We mentioned Patrick Mahomes in the headline, but even he hasn't put together the kind of game in the playoffs Haliburton put together for the Pacers. Maybe Haliburton needs to put on the pads and take over the Kansas City Chiefs' offense?
Obviously, this is an apples to oranges comparison that is made in jest. However, if there was one way to highlight just how dominant Haliburton's game was, it's this.
Haliburton has proven during this playoff run that he can beat teams in a multitude of ways. Whether it be clutch shots at the buzzer to send the game to overtime or an all-around dominant triple-double, Haliburton has completely controlled the Eastern Conference Finals (and every playoff series he has been it).
He has done so while going head-to-head against some of the best guards in the sport, too. Indiana waltzed Damian Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks (although it's probably unfair to even include Lillard in this), they outdueled Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers, and now, they are taking care of business against Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks.
The job isn't finished. Indiana has to win another game to get to the NBA Finals, where they will likely square off against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
But if history tells us anything, Haliburton will go toe-to-toe with SGA and the Pacers will give the Thunder a challenge they are not ready for. With one more Hall of Fame quarterback performance from Haliburton, the Pacers will officially have a ticket to the big dance.