"Hali fkn hooping" - LeBron James shouts out Tyrese Haliburton for igniting Pacers' stunning turnaround vs Cavaliers

LeBron James may be a proud Cleveland native, but he didn’t hold back in showing love to Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton for his Game 5 heroics in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Tuesday, where Haliburton helped Indiana erase a 19-point deficit en route to a series-clinching 114-105 win.

The Pacers fell behind by 19 early in the second quarter, but Haliburton sparked the comeback, scoring 15 points in the period to cut Cleveland’s lead to just six at the break, 62-56.

James gave Haliburton his flowers, hitting at how the Pacers guard was labeled the league’s most “overrated” player in a recent NBA player poll by The Athletic, and praised him as someone "everyone" would want on their team.

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“Hali fkn hooping!!!! Where the lames who said he was overrated??!! Quiet as hell,” James wrote. “That boy NICE and even more someone everyone would love to play with!”

Haliburton ended the night with 31 points, eight assists and six steals, posting a game-best plus-27 rating.

Tyrese Haliburton leads Pacers to second straight East finals

With the win, Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they’ll face the winner of the Knicks-Celtics series. The Knicks hold a 3-1 lead, and the Celtics suffered a major blow after Jayson Tatum ruptured his Achilles in Game 4.

In the decisive Game 5, Haliburton was lights out, going 10-of-15 and hitting 6-of-10 from beyond the arc. He got solid backing from Pascal Siakam (21 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two blocks) and Andrew Nembhard (18 points, six assists).

Aaron Nesmith chipped in with a double-double (13 points, 13 rebounds), while Myles Turner added 18 points and six assists, making key plays on both ends late in the game.

For the Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell scored 35 points with nine rebounds and four steals, but struggled on 8-of-25 shooting. Evan Mobley added 24 points and 11 boards, while Darius Garland managed only 11 points on 16 shots. De’Andre Hunter came off the bench with 12.

The Pacers shot an even 50.0% from the field and went 15-of-35 from 3, while Cleveland lagged behind at 38.9% overall and hit just 9-of-35 from deep.

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