Tyrese Haliburton says he hates the inbounds play that produced his dramatic four-point game-winner against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks.
Tyrese Haliburton does not like the inbounds play the Indiana Pacers ran for his four-point play against the Milwaukee Bucks on March 11, 2025.
He told Reggie Miller, who was on the TNT call that night, in a half-hour video posted Thursday. Miller brought the play up near the end, after the two had gone through Haliburton's 2025 playoff winners.
Haliburton Says He Hates the Inbounds Play
Miller compared the formation to a spread offense in football.
"I think I was calling the game with Brian Anderson, and we're like, 'There's just no way,'" Miller said. "Because it was almost like a football play you guys did."
The play worked the first time the Pacers ran it and never again, by Haliburton's count.
"We put it in a couple years ago, just kind of in practice, your late-game installation stuff, and it worked the first time we ever did it and it never worked again," Haliburton said. "So I was like, 'This play, I hate this play. I hate every time he calls it. It never works.'"
"And again, kind of similar to the Bulls situation you were just talking about, Taurean Prince was guarding me, but I could tell when they came out for a timeout, he was confused," Haliburton continued. "They were confused. They were like, 'He's coming that way. We're going to switch it.' Some guys were like, 'No, stay with yours. Nobody leave.' So it's telling that they weren't on the same page."
Miller had just finished telling the story of his 1998 winner against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, when Ron Harper assumed a switch that never came.
Bucks' Confusion Helped Open the Play
Milwaukee led 114-111 after two Damian Lillard free throws, and Indiana used a timeout to advance the ball. Four Pacers lined up in the backcourt, three of them side by side, like receivers. Haliburton ran along the left sideline.
Andrew Nembhard threw it left-handed on the run.
"A lot of times we run that play, when I come over this way, I want Andrew to throw it right here, because most of the time there's no way he can get the ball there with a defender on my back," Haliburton explained. "So I'm like, 'Right here,' but he didn't really look. He kind of was like, 'Keep going.' So when I kept running, he flipped it with his left hand."
Haliburton caught it in the left corner, in front of the Milwaukee bench, and went up over Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Haliburton Thought He Had Sold the Foul
Heavily contested jumpers force him to raise up.
"You know how it is with my jumper. I can't really," Haliburton said. "If I know I'm going to shoot a really heavily contested jumper, I have to jump. I have to raise up. So with Giannis coming in, all I was thinking was shoot it over him. I got to get it over him. So I'm jumping to take off. And I probably sold it a little bit."
"They blew the whistle and it went in, the crowd went crazy, and they reviewed it," Haliburton added. "And I'm like, 'Oh, I sold that.' Like, I'm not thinking he actually, and they call a foul. I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, thank God I get a free throw.'"
Officials upheld the foul after a review, ruling that Antetokounmpo did not give Haliburton room to land. The 3-pointer counted with 3.4 seconds left, and Haliburton made the free throw for a 115-114 lead. Antetokounmpo's 3-pointer at the buzzer came up short.
Four-Point Play Ended Pacers' Losing Streak
The Pacers had led 103-93 with 8:08 to play before Milwaukee answered with a 10-0 run.
Haliburton finished with 14 points and 10 assists. The corner 3 was only his second make from beyond the arc that night. Pascal Siakam had 25 points and 12 rebounds, and Bennedict Mathurin scored 17 off the bench. Brook Lopez led Milwaukee with 23 points, Antetokounmpo had 19 points and 17 rebounds, and Prince scored 18.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak and pulled Indiana even with the Bucks for fourth place in the Eastern Conference at 36-28. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said afterward that Miller being in the building may have rubbed off a little good fortune on his team.
Defenses adjust now, Haliburton said, with one defender waiting for his cut and another on his body. "We got to mix it up now," he told Miller.
That June, Haliburton ruptured his right Achilles in Game 7 of the Finals. In August, he said he was itching to return after 14 months away, and the Pacers open their season Oct. 21 at New Orleans.
Milwaukee won the rematch four nights later in Milwaukee, 126-119.
