Mr. Clutch: Tyrese Haliburton keeps delivering in the ultimate moments for the Pacers

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — You are Tyrese Haliburton.

You went to the Eastern Conference finals last year and got swept. You went to the Olympics last summer and didn't play much. You came into this season with high expectations and your Indiana Pacers got off to a 10-15 start. And on top of that, some of your NBA peers evidently think you are overrated.

You got angry.

“I think as a group, we take everything personal,” Haliburton said. “It’s not just me. It’s everybody. I feel like that’s the DNA of this group and that’s not just me.”

The anger fueled focus, the focus became confidence, and the confidence delivered a 1-0 series lead in the NBA Finals. Haliburton's penchant for last-second heroics — one of the stories of these playoffs — showed up again Thursday night, his jumper with 0.3 seconds left going into finals lore and giving the Pacers a 111-110 win over the heavily favored Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Pacers led for 0.0001% of that game. It was enough.

“When it comes to the moments, he wants the ball,” Pacers teammate Myles Turner said. “He wants to be the one to hit that shot. He doesn’t shy away from the moment and it's very important this time of the year to have a go-to guy. He just keeps finding a way and we keep putting the ball in the right positions and the rest is history.”

Haliburton is 4 for 4 in the final 2 seconds of fourth quarters and overtimes in these playoffs, all of those shots either giving the Pacers a win or sending a game into OT before they won it there.

The rest of the NBA, in those situations this spring: 4 for 26, combined.

“YOU CAN'T MAKE IT UP,” Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark — possibly the only Indiana guard more beloved than Haliburton these days in the basketball-mad state — posted on X moments after he hit his latest beat-the-clock thriller.

If Haliburton takes one of those beat-the-clock shots in the first three quarters of games in these playoffs, he's a mere mortal, just 1 for 7 in those situations. But with the game on the line, he's perfect.

“You don’t want to live and die with the best player on the other team taking a game winner with a couple seconds left,” Thunder guard Alex Caruso said.

No, especially when that best player on the other team is Haliburton. Just ask Milwaukee. Or Cleveland. Or New York. They could have all told Oklahoma City who was going to take the big shot and what was probably going to happen.

Against the Bucks on April 29, it was a layup with 1.4 seconds left that capped a rally from seven points down in the final 34.6 seconds of overtime. Final score: Pacers 119, Bucks 118, and that series ended there.

In Cleveland on May 6, it was a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left for a 120-119 win — capping a rally from seven points down in the final 48 seconds. At Madison Square Garden against the Knicks on May 21, a game the Pacers trailed 121-112 with 51.1 seconds left, he hit a jumper with no time left to force OT and Indiana would win again.

All those plays came with a little something extra. His father, John Haliburton, got a little too exuberant with Giannis Antetokounmpo after the Bucks game and wasn't allowed to come to the next few games; the ban has since been lifted. Haliburton did a certain dance that the NBA doesn't like much after the shot against the Cavs. He made a choke signal, a la what Pacers legend Reggie Miller did against New York a generation earlier, after hitting the shot against the Knicks.

But on Thursday, all business. These finals are a long way from over, and he knows it. Game 2 is Sunday night in Oklahoma City.

“Again, another big comeback but there’s a lot more work to do,” Haliburton said. “That’s just one game. And this is the best team in the NBA, and they don’t lose often. So, we expect them to respond. We’ve got to be prepared for that. We got a couple days to watch film, see where we can get better.”

Haliburton is in his first year of a supermax contract that will pay him about $245 million along the way. He has the Olympic gold medal from last summer and surely will be a serious candidate to play for USA Basketball again at the Los Angeles Games in 2028. He's now a two-time All-NBA selection. And he's officially a certified postseason, late-game hero.

Three more wins, and he'll be an NBA champion as well. The anger is gone. Haliburton was all smiles after Game 1, for obvious reasons.

“Ultimate, ultimate confidence in himself,” Turner said. “Some players will say they have it but there’s other players that show it, and he’s going to let you know about it, too. That’s one of the things I respect about him. He’s a baller and a hooper and really just a gamer.”

And in his NBA Finals debut, Haliburton reminded the world that's the case.

“This group never gives up," Haliburton said. “We never believe that the game is over until it hits zero, and that’s just the God’s honest truth. That’s just the confidence that we have as a group, and I think that’s a big reason why this is going on.”

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Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) shoots a 3-pointer against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace (22) during the second half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals basketball series Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) celebrates with forward Aaron Nesmith (23) and forward Obi Toppin (1) after making a 3-pointer against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals basketball series Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) shoots a 3-pointer against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace (22) during the second half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals basketball series Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) and teammates celebrate as they leave the court after winning Game 1 of the NBA Finals basketball series against the Oklahoma City Thunder Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) leaves the court after winning Game 1 of the NBA Finals basketball series against the Oklahoma City Thunder Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)