
via Imago
Feb 18, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Eastern Conference guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) of the Indiana Pacers and girlfriend Jade Jones after the 73rd NBA All Star game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

via Imago
Feb 18, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Eastern Conference guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) of the Indiana Pacers and girlfriend Jade Jones after the 73rd NBA All Star game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
The Indiana Pacers just pulled off an absolute miracle in Game 1 of the NBA Finals! Down the entire game, on the road in that crazy loud OKC arena, and Tyrese Haliburton does it again, hitting an ice-cold, game-winning jumper with just 0.3 seconds on the clock to stun the Thunder, 111-110. It was pure playoff magic. And while Pacers fans were losing their minds celebrating, Haliburton’s longtime girlfriend, Jade Jones, has a crystal-clear message for the Thunder.
Right after that insane comeback win, the official Indiana Pacers Instagram account posted a victory graphic, celebrating the huge 1-0 series lead. Jade Jones, who’s been right there supporting Hali every step of this wild playoff journey, immediately reposted it to her story. But she added her own caption, a short, sharp, and incredibly confident message written in all caps for emphasis: “3 MORE !!!!”
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Let that sink in. She didn’t just say, ‘What a win!’ or ‘So proud!’ Nah. She went straight to a championship mindset. That “3 MORE !!!!” is telling the Oklahoma City Thunder, the team with the MVP and the “historically great” defense, they didn’t come to the Finals to just win one game. They came to win the whole damn thing, and they’re already counting down the victories needed to hoist that Larry O’Brien trophy.
What makes Jade’s confidence even more telling is that Tyrese didn’t even have one of his typical monster games, at least not on the stat sheet. For most of the night, he was relatively muted offensively. He finished the game with just 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting, to go along with 10 rebounds and six assists. For a superstar who is known to make the league’s most potent offense, that’s a quiet night at the office. But that’s the magic of this Pacers team, and the genius of Haliburton: even when he’s not dropping 30, he finds a way to make the one play that matters most.
And honestly, can you blame her for feeling that confident? Her boyfriend is turning into an absolute legend right before our eyes. That clutch shot to win Game 1? That was Haliburton’s fourth game-winner in these playoffs alone! But after the high-fives and the celebrating die down, you gotta ask the real question every basketball fan is thinking: Can the Pacers actually keep winning like this? Or are they just playing with fire and bound to get burned?
What’s your perspective on:
Did Tyrese Haliburton just prove he's the real MVP by silencing OKC's 'historically great' defense?
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Heart of a champion or playing with fire? Can the Pacers really keep winning like this?
If you just look at the box score from Game 1, the Pacers had no business winning that game. None. They coughed up the ball a whopping 25 times! That’s a season-high, and you did it in Game 1 of the NBA Finals? Yikes. Because of all those turnovers, they took 16 fewer shots than OKC.
For most of the night, their usually high-speed offense looked totally stuck in the mud against that swarming Thunder defense. Not a single Pacer even cracked the 20-point mark, and their hero, Tyrese Haliburton, only had 14 points for the game. You just can’t expect to win a championship series playing that sloppy. The only reason they even had a shot was because the Thunder had a surprisingly bad shooting night. You can’t bet on that happening again.
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But here’s the crazy part: this is just who the Pacers are! This was their fifth comeback from a 15-plus point deficit in these playoffs! This team has some kind of wild, chaotic magic to it. They look like they’re about to get blown off the court, and then you blink, and suddenly they’ve cut the lead to single digits. They seem to just thrive when things get messy. And while they were turning the ball over like crazy, they were also dominating the glass, outrebounding the Thunder 56-39. That’s a huge advantage, and it’s something they can build on.

via Imago
Jan 29, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) celebrates a made basket in the second half against the Detroit Pistons at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
So, what’s the game plan to actually win three more? Well, it probably can’t be “commit 25 turnovers and hope Hali hits a miracle shot.” They absolutely have to clean that up. And while Tyrese is a pass-first genius, they probably need him to be a bit more aggressive with his own offense earlier in the games, just to keep that Thunder defense on its heels and not let them just tee off on everyone else. If the Pacers can combine that rebounding dominance with a much cleaner, less turnover-prone offense, and get a more aggressive Haliburton from the jump? Then they could be even more dangerous in Game 2.
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The Thunder definitely got a wake-up call. They know now that no lead is safe against these Pacers, and they have to play a full 48 minutes of focused basketball. But the Pacers also have to be asking themselves if they can keep tempting fate like this.
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Did Tyrese Haliburton just prove he's the real MVP by silencing OKC's 'historically great' defense?