Like every other basketball fan, Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson has been tuning into the 2025 NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers.
The Pacers took a 2-1 series lead after winning Game 3 behind a masterful performance from Tyrese Haliburton. The point guard had a quiet Game 2 where he looked timid with the basketball, but he responded with arguably his best playoff game to date given the stakes. Haliburton recorded a near triple-double of 22 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds in 36 minutes.
While he’s had bigger box score outings, Haliburton’s aggressiveness on the offensive end stood out. The Pacers star caught flak for his passiveness in Game 2, but he made sure to correct that mindset for Game 3.
Ahead of Game 4, Johnson offered up some advice for Haliburton, via ESPN’s First Take:
“So what’s he’s gotta do is understand what he has to do to help the Pacers beat OKC. You can’t just have 15 assists and 12 points or 15 points. That’s not enough. You gotta score in this series. See, you gotta remember that OKC is the highest scoring team in the league, so you have to personally, Haliburton, come out and say, ‘I gotta get my assists but also I gotta score. I gotta score.’ I had to do that against the Celtics. I couldn’t just have 20 assists. I had to 25 to 30 points for us to beat ’em and I was able to do that. So don’t take it personal what people are saying because the first two games you said it yourself. ‘I didn’t play good. I could play better.’ So now let’s concentrate on Game 4. This what happened last night you gotta take that into Game 4.”
As Johnson noted, Haliburton needs to take it upon himself to get Indiana buckets as their primary ball handler and decision maker. Between his deceptively shifty dribble and unorthodox shooting stroke, Haliburton can score at all three levels of the floor and needs to shoulder that burden more often than not.
Johnson initially expected a close NBA Finals matchup between the Pacers and Thunder and it looks like he’ll get his wish if this keeps up. Indiana may have a series lead, but Oklahoma City was the best team in the regular season for a reason and they’ll surely have a response.
Magic Johnson sends message to Luka Doncic
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