Caitlin Clark Labels Close Friend Tyrese Haliburton’s Pacers as ‘Greatest Comeback Team’

Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers were considered the underdog team against the New York Knicks ahead of the ECF.

Caitlin Clark Labels Close Friend Tyrese Haliburton’s Pacers as ‘Greatest Comeback Team’

Caitlin Clark shouts out Tyrese Haliburton and Indiana Pacers after stunning Game 1 comeback win (Image via FirstSportz)

Tyrese Haliburton is often labeled as a good person. One of the byproducts of being a good person, along with his job as a basketball player for the Indiana Pacers franchise, means he got the chance to befriend and eventually became a part of the close circle of Fever superstar Caitlin Clark.

The two have built up a friendship where, along with their respective significant others, they go on double dates from time to time. Clark has been to Pacers games cheering on Haliburton and his teammates, whereas the Pacers star has done the same whenever the Fever play at home.

But how far their individual friendship goes was evident when the WNBA Rookie of the Year trolled Tyrese Haliburton in a picture featuring his girlfriend. It proved that Caitlin Clark was a close friend of the Pacers’ superstar and not just a result of working in the same building.

The friendship side means one would expect both Clark and Haliburton to be singing praises for each other whenever they get a chance. But tonight, after the Indiana Pacers came back to upset the New York Knicks in overtime at Madison Square Garden, the Fever superstar decided to shout out the entire Pacers squad.

PACERS ARE THE GREATEST COMEBACK TEAM IVE EVER SEEN.

Caitlin Clark wrote on X

Admittedly, Caitlin Clark is only 23 years old. Which means she might not have witnessed comeback wins from before the turn of the millennium. But she knows what the Pacers did tonight was extraordinary. To come back down from that much that late and still win was a testament to their resilience.

Tyrese Haliburton leads Pacers to heroic comeback against Knicks

The game started with the New York Knicks taking a lead and extending it by halftime. Then in the second half, they increased that lead to a point where the home team, buoyed by the loud fans inside Madison Square Garden, were up by 14 points with three minutes left in the game.

From that point onwards, the Indiana Pacers took matters into their own hands. Aaron Nesmith‘s threes reduced the deficit, and the Pacers realized they could upset the home team. For the first time in the game, the away team stepped up their defensive presence, and along with some scoring, helped them to stand just two points away.

Tyrese Haliburton had orchestrated most of the scoring, but with time running down, he almost lost the ball. He regained control, stepped back out to the three-point line, and launched. The ball bounced high off the back of the rim and came back down to give them the win.

But it was not to be as Haliburton’s toe was on the line. Still, it went to overtime, where the Knicks first threatened to pull away. But then, the Pacers regrouped, brought their defense back, and scored more than the home team to seal a stunning upset win, 138-135.

Tyrese Haliburton and Pacers set new record

By winning the game in that fashion, Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers helped set a new record. When the New York Knicks held a 14-point lead with 2:50 left on the clock, they were the 970th team to do so.

Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers came back to win Game 1 of ECF
Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers came back to win Game 1 of ECF (Image via IndyStar/X)

A win would have kept the record intact. Instead, the Pacers defeating the Knicks meant they had broken a record that had been kept alive over the past 27 postseasons. Now, Haliburton and the Pacers can brag that they are the first to do so, and ironically, in more time than the Pacers’ star has been on planet Earth.

In the same amount of time, as per Keerthika Uthayakumar, NBA teams are 4-1661 when trailing by 7 or more in the last minute of the fourth or overtime. The Indiana Pacers have three of those wins, all coming in this postseason.

Jalen Brunson might be the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year. But going by these numbers and their playoff record this postseason, Caitlin Clark might not be wrong to call the Indiana Pacers the most Clutch team in the league.

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