Sports Poets Society

GRACE SMITH/INDYSTAR -  Fans react to Indiana Pacers guard  Tyrese Haliburton going down with an injury on June 22. Pacers could taste title. Now, we’re all sick to our stomachs  25 Jun 2025 - The Indianapolis Star USA TODAY NETWORK Gregg Doyel Columnist   OKLAHOMA CITY – The locker isn’t empty, but almost. A small bag of chips on the cabinet, unopened. A few hangers on the overhead bar, empty. A rolling piece of black luggage nearby, zipped up and ready to go. If it belongs to Tyrese Haliburton — and this was his spot in the visitors’ locker room Sunday at Paycom Center, site of Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals — someone else will need to grab it. Haliburton left the locker room with his hands full. You know. The crutches. Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers are the talk of the NBA today, not the Oklahoma City Thunder, and that’s not the way these things normally go. Normally we celebrate our winners. The team that didn’t win — I’m not calling anyone in this series ...

LA PRIMA VOLTA DI OKLAHOMA CITY LA SQUADRA DEI GIOVANI APRE UN’ERA Indiana KO in gara-7: il quintetto ha un’età media di 25 anni, la più bassa da mezzo secolo Doppio mvpLa festa dei Thunder dopo la conquista del titolo: Shai GilgeousAlexander, 26 anni, al centro, MVP della stagione e delle Finals, alza il Larry O’Brien Trophy  "I miei ragazzi agiscono e lottano da campioni. Adesso lo sono pure nei fatti" - Mark Daigneault, Capo allenatore  "Il titolo 2020 con i Lakers?  Questo è quello vero e sono pronto per un altro" - Alex Caruso, nelle Finals 10,1 punti di media 24 Jun 2025 - La Gazzetta dello Sport Di Andrea Buongiovanni Persino lui, persino Shai GilgeousAlexander, il più imperscrutabile dei giocatori Nba, stavolta si lascia andare a un largo sorriso. Gara-7 è finita. Oklahoma City, di fronte al proprio pubblico tutto vestito di blu, ha battuto Indiana 103-91 e per la prima volta è campione. La festa è grande. L’Mvp della stagione regolare e delle Finals - nes...

OKC LA MARQUE JEUNESS Le Thunder, plus jeune équipe à remporter le titre NBA depuis un demi-siècle après avoir battu Indiana dans le match 7 de la finale, dans la nuit de dimanche à lundi, a un bel avenir devant lui. "Une des pires célébrations de l’histoire!"    - OUSMANE DIENG "On peut continuer à progresser.  C’est ce qui est génial.  On n’est pas beaucoup à être dans notre prime"    - GILGEOU'S-A'LEXANDER SHAI 24 Jun 2025 - L'Équipe LOÏC PIALAT OKLAHOMA CITY (USA) – Les journalistes avaient couvert leurs caméras et leurs appareils photos, certains avaient laissé leur sac dans un couloir du Paycom Center, d’autres, sorti le ciré en plastique, réflexes classiques pour une célébration post-titre. Ils ont suivi jusqu’au vestiaire Jalen Williams, masque de ski sur la tête et trophée Larry O’Brien dans les bras. « Désolé les médias mais vous n’avez pas le droit d’y toucher!», a crié la jeune star avant de rejoindre Chet Holmgren et Jaylin Williams pour l’u...

La Repubblica - Domenica 22 Giugno 2025 Pagina 33 — MA.BAS. Tutto si riduce a questo: una partita per l'eternità. O gloria o rimpianto. Stanotte Oklahoma City Thunder e Indiana Pacers si sfideranno per il titolo di basket della lega più famosa al mondo. Sarà la ventesima gara-7 in più di 70 anni. Una delle due diventerà campione per la prima volta — Oklahoma ha preso il titolo sportivo da Seattle, che ha vinto nel '79, ma è un'altra storia — e tolti Alex Caruso (Los Angeles Lakers, 2020) e Pascal Siakam (Toronto Raptors, 2019), gli altri protagonisti non hanno mai visto un anello da campione, a meno che non fosse al dito di qualcun altro. Il punto è a chi toccherà: a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, il predestinato? O a Tyrese Haliburton, il "sopravvalutato"? Il primo, 26 anni, eletto miglior giocatore della stagione regolare, ha un'idea aristocratica del tempo in linea con il cognome lungo come una dinastia: silenzioso, impassibile, appare lento, ma solo perché sembr...

CHRISTINE TANNOUS/INDYSTAR - Indiana guard Tyrese Haliburton leaves the court after the Pacers’ Game 5 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on June 16 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, a night when he went scoreless from the field. Haliburton’s hurting, but no one seems to know how much 18 giu 2025 - The Indianapolis Star Gregg Doyel Columnist Indianapolis Star USA TODAY NETWORT Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton has a towel on his lap and a look on his face. Frustrated? Furious? Probably some of both. He’s just been removed from Game 5 of the NBA Finals after playing 34 minutes and making as many field goals as you did. In two minutes this will all be over, this 120-109 victory Monday night for the Thunder at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, but for Haliburton the frustration – the fury – is just getting started. Because after this game there will be almost 72 hours before the 2025 NBA Finals return to Indianapolis for Game 6 on Thursday night, June 19, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. ...

CHRISTINE TANNOUS/INDYSTAR  Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0)  sits on the bench during the June 8 game against  the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 of the NBA Finals at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. Usually magical Pacer sometimes pulls a disappearing act 10 giu 2025 - The Indianapolis Star Gregg Doyel Columnist Indianapolis Star USA TODAY NETWORK This is the Tyrese Haliburton experience: Sometimes, most of the time, he pulls a rabbit out of a hat. But sometimes, other times, he makes himself disappear. Don’t try to understand it, because he doesn’t. If he did, you think this would happen? Those first three-plus quarters of the Indiana Pacers’123-107 loss to Oklahoma City in Game 2 of the 2025 NBA Finals? “I have to do a better job of figuring out where I can be better,” the Pacers AllStar guard said after the Thunder evened the series at 1-1, with the NBA Finals shifting to Gainbridge Fieldhouse this week for Game 3 and Game 4. Through those first 39 minutes ...

9 Jun 2025 - The Indianapolis Star Zach Osterman Indianapolis Star USA TODAY NETWORK OKLAHOMA CITY – Outside of a handful of interactions in summer workouts, Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton didn’t know Pascal Siakam very well, when he learned Indiana might trade for the Toronto All-Star a year ago January. Haliburton and Siakam had exchanged pleasantries at Rico Runs — the well-known UCLA-based summer pickup games organized by longtime NBA assistant Rico Hines — but otherwise the pair hadn’t often crossed paths. Now, with his front office considering a move to pair him with Siakam, Indiana’s emerging franchise face thought it would be a good idea for the two to connect. Stepping out of a dinner during the team’s mid-January swing through Atlanta last season, Haliburton talked with Siakam for roughly an hour. That phone call provided the building blocks of a relationship that’s anchored the Pacers’ run to the NBA Finals 17 months later. “I wanted to have a conversation, ‘Hey, is th...

GRACE SMITH/INDYSTAR - Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton celebrates  on May 27  during  Game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.  The Pacers defeated the Knicks 130-121. 8 Jun 2025 - The Indianapolis Star Nat Newell Indianapolis Star USA TODAY NETWORK Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton had a game for the ages May 27, scoring 32 points with 15 assists, 12 rebounds, four steals and no turnovers. Where does it rank among the best playoff performances by a Pacers? Here's a look. Roger Brown, 5/23/1970 vs. Los Angeles Brown closed out the 1970 ABA finals with 45 points on 14-of-27 shooting, including 7 of 12 from 3, with 11 rebounds and two turnovers in the 111-107 victory. In a Finals clinching win, this is the pick. Reggie Miller, 5/7/1995 vs New York How do you rank eight points in 9 seconds? It's the iconic moment for the Pacers' NBA history but Miller "only" scored 31 points on 7-of-18 shooting, including 3 of 7 from 3, ...

WILLIAM PURNELL/GETTY IMAGES - Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith (23) congratulates  guard Tyrese Haliburton after scoring a basket against the Oklahoma City Thunder  during  the fourth quarter in Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. Pacers take only lead of Game 1 in final .3 seconds 7 Jun 2025 - The Indianapolis Star Zach Osterman Indianapolis Star USA TODAY NETWORK OKLAHOMA CITY – Tyrese Haliburton sat, bemused, in front of his locker, scrolling through his phone in the afterglow of yet another come-from-behind victory in a playoff run now defined by them. On another night when the Pacers became the first team to do this when trailing by that much with so many minutes left on the clock since when, Haliburton stared at the screen the way you do when your mind is distracted, quietly trying to process events whose magnitude is still unfolding. The more he scrolled, the more he laughed. This was, he said, even crazier than “the other ones.” No furthe...