Tyrese Haliburton has woken up in a huge way after he started off the Indiana Pacers' second-round matchup against the New York Knicks in the 2024 NBA playoffs on a poor note. Catching fire despite their Game 2 loss, Haliburton carried over his hot shooting into Game 3 and ended up with 35 points on the night to lead the way for the Pacers in a 111-106 victory to give them their first win of the series.

Haliburton clearly looked more comfortable in front of a raucous Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd, and the Pacers followed his lead. When he is aggressive in hunting his own shot, the Pacers' offense becomes that much more dangerous, as this only serves to accentuate his elite court vision. And with his latest stellar game to lead his team to victory, the star floor general joined some elite company that shows he is, indeed, among the best lead ballhandlers in the association despite what other fans might say.

According to the NBA History on Twitter (X), as shared by the official Pacers account, Tyrese Haliburton became just the fifth player in NBA history to tally consecutive playoff games with 3o or more points and six or more made triples. Haliburton joined Stephen Curry, James Harden, Damian Lillard, and Donovan Mitchell as the only members of the aforementioned club — a star-studded group of guards who have flourished as their respective teams' number one option.

The Pacers, despite fielding a team that's close to full strength, had their fair share of difficulties in Game 3 against a heavily-depleted Knicks team. But Haliburton came up huge, and this is the level his team will need from him moving forward as they try to make it back to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 10 years.

Tyrese Haliburton joins as star-studded of a club as there is

The Pacers are in a good spot for the next few years with Tyrese Haliburton leading the way, if the club he joined is any indication. That four-man group includes four of the best shot-creators in the league over the past decade, and with considerable team success to boot.

Stephen Curry and James Harden need no introduction. They have been two of the most consistent guards in the NBA over the past decade, and their teams have more often than not been in championship contention. It's their ability to bend defenses with their gravity and pull-up threat that their teams have built their offenses around, and to great success.

Damian Lillard had considerable success as well during his time with the Portland Trail Blazers, leading them to the Western Conference Finals in 2019, and the Milwaukee Bucks might have made a deep playoff run in 2024 had they been healthy. Meanwhile, Donovan Mitchell has been one of the most electric postseason performers since his rookie year, and he hasn't yet missed the playoffs for his career.

Haliburton might be more in the Chris Paul mold of dropping 20-10 a night, although it's clear that he can channel his inner number one option as well if needed. And it's clear that this is what the Pacers need out of him. For Game 4, Indiana will need him to step up once more as they try to head back to the hostile confines of Madison Square Garden with the series tied up.

The Pacers star puts the wannabe All-Star talk to rest

At the conclusion of Game 1, a contest in which Tyrese Haliburton struggled immensely, Knicks fans came out in droves to talk some smack towards the Pacers star. And it was hard to argue that Haliburton didn't deserve to hear such brutal wake-up calls. Knicks fans brought up what MSG analyst Wally Szczerbiak said in December 2022 that the Pacers guard was a “wannabe All-Star”, and that looked ever so prescient when Haliburton scored just six points on six shot attempts to open up the series.

But Haliburton appears to have taken those criticisms to heart. He has become more aggressive with his pull-up game, denying the Knicks' game plan to force him downhill. The Pacers star's main offensive weapon is his pull-up threat and he weaponized it to great effect on Friday night when he made six of his 16 (!) attempts from deep.

In the end, Haliburton finished the game with nearly double the shot attempts of his next-closest teammate (Pascal Siakam, who had 14 shots), and this level of aggression bodes well for the Pacers moving forward. He also looked more explosive and shifty than ever in this series, as he also got to the hoop multiple times to finish with a scoop layup, further making his three-point game dangerous.