After taking down the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Indiana Pacers are moving forward to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in an intriguing small-market NBA Finals matchup.
This year's Finals will be an elite battle between two high-level point guards in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tyrese Haliburton, but it will ultimately come down to who has the better supporting cast, and Oklahoma City's might be unmatched. Still, Haliburton and company will do all they can to pull the Pacers over the hump and bring some hardware back to Indiana.
Ahead of the NBA Finals, Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green took to his podcast to talk about Haliburton and his "underrated" handle.
"It's like they give him so much space," Green said about Haliburton. "His shot takes a little time to load it up anyway... The reason they don't pressure him like that, though, is Hali's handle is very underrated and sneaky... I think all of those guys also know that if they try to pressure him, he'll bop they a** so fast."
Green even compared Haliburton's handle to that of Steph Curry and Kyrie Irving, two of the best ball handlers to ever play.
"Follow me here. Steph Curry and Kyrie Irving, their ball handling starts when it appeared to you that they lost the basketball," Green said. "Because you think they lost it, and they've got it so crazy on the yo-yo where as soon as you go to reach, you're so out of position that there's no way you can catch up. Hali's got some of that."
Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0)
May 29, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) controls the ball in the first quarter against the New York Knicks during game five of the eastern conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Haliburton and the Pacers are having an incredible playoff run, and even though they will have their hands full against the Thunder, their postseason has been historic and Haliburton is cementing himself as an Indiana legend.