NBA in-season tournament: Tyrese Haliburton's first career triple-double leads Pacers past Celtics in quarterfinals

Tyrese Haliburton’s first career triple-double came at the perfect time.

Haliburton, thanks to a huge second-half performance, led the Indiana Pacers past the Boston Celtics 122-112 on Monday night in the quarterfinals of the NBA’s in-season tournament. The win officially pushes the Pacers into the quarterfinals of the tournament in Las Vegas later this week. Haliburton finished with 26 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds in the win, adding to his already incredible season.

Things were tight early on at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, though the Celtics took a slight lead at the break after they closed the second quarter on a 12-2 run. It wasn’t until the third quarter that the Pacers finally flew ahead, thanks to a huge start from Haliburton.

Haliburton either scored or accounted for the Pacers’ first 19 points of the second half. Just like that, the seven-point halftime deficit was gone. The Pacers outscored Boston 37-23 in the third quarter alone, which suddenly gave them a seven-point lead headed into the final period.

That lead, though, didn’t hold. The Celtics tied the game back up again by the midway point of the fourth quarter. But Haliburton finished the job in the final two minutes, and converted an incredible four-point play with a deep 3-pointer that put the Pacers up by four.

That bucket sparked a 10-4 run for the Pacers, which allowed them to close out the game and seal the 10-point win.

Haliburton shot 10-of-18 from the field and 5-of-11 from behind the arc while grabbing his triple-double. The 23-year-old former Iowa State standout entered Monday night averaging a career-high 27 points and 11.8 assists so far this season. Budd Hield finished with 21 points in the win for the Pacers, and Myles Turner added 17 points and 10 rebounds. All five starters finished in double figures, and they shot better than 47% from the 3-point line.

Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 32 points and 12 rebounds in the loss. Jaylen Brown added 30 points and nine rebounds, and Derrick White finished with 18 points.

With the win, the Pacers will now take on either the Milwaukee Bucks or the New York Knicks in the east semifinals on Thursday night in Las Vegas. The Bucks and Knicks will square off in their quarterfinals game on Tuesday.

This post will be updated with more information shortly.