Indiana Pacers All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton will not receive a fine for his dancing celebration after Game 2 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Indianapolis Star beat writer Dustin Dopirak confirmed the news on Thursday.
Missed this earlier, but can confirm. https://t.co/5keXqktIeQ
— Dustin Dopirak (@DustinDopirak) May 8, 2025
Haliburton hit a game-winner in Game 2 and led the Pacers to a comeback after being down by seven points with 50 seconds left in the contest. Indiana now leads the series 2-0.
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Instead, Haliburton only received a warning for the celebration. After the game, the 25-year-old superstar spoke on the shot and what it meant to him.
“I’ve been waiting for that. I’ve been waiting for that, man,” Haliburton said after Game 2. “It was just right in the moment. It was right in the moment. Yeah, man, I’ve been waiting for that. I’ll take that fine, gladly.”
With just 48 seconds remaining, the Pacers trailed 119-112 and were staring down a 97.5 percent chance of losing, according to ESPN’s win probability model.
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But what happened next was nothing short of remarkable. After Pascal Siakam missed two crucial free throws, Aaron Nesmith came flying in for a thunderous putback dunk. Moments later, Donovan Mitchell turned the ball over, which Siakam quickly turned into a layup to cut the gap to three. Then, Andrew Nembhard came up with a clutch steal on the inbounds play, setting up Tyrese Haliburton, who was fouled while attacking the basket.
Haliburton knocked down the first free throw to make it a two-point game. He then missed the second on purpose, secured his own rebound, spotted the remaining seconds, and buried a step-back three from the top of the arc.
It was a wild finish—another testament to the Pacers’ resilience and refusal to fold, a trademark of this Indiana squad all season long.
Indiana will now travel back home for Games 3 and 4, and with a terrific chance to close things out in the series and not even travel back to Cleveland. The Pacers’ title odds jumped after their epic Game 2 win as they went from +3500 to +1800 to win the title this season, according to DraftKings.
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