They're 48 minutes from an NBA Finals berth (yes, I'm serious) after Haliburton, Siakam and Mathurin go nuts on the Knicks

It all started with Tyrese, who put up a historical triple double with zero, yes zero, turnovers.

The Pacers, perpetual underdogs these playoffs against the Cavaliers and Knicks, are 48 minutes from the second NBA Finals berth of their existence. On a night when the stars shone brightest – and I’m not talking about Timothee Chalamet and Ben Stiller, who got an earful from local cheerleader Pat McAfee – the Pacers alumni showed up in force, including Danny Granger, who has not been back to Indiana in many years.

They are 48 minutes away. Just consider that, ruminate over that, celebrate that. Consider the construction of the sentence: The Pacers are 48 minutes from doing something almost nobody thought was possible, especially in an Eastern Conference that was top-heavy with Boston and Cleveland. This isn’t some kind of grand upset, some epic surprise; the Pacers have been an an unholy heater the last 30 games. Nobody has been better. Nobody has been hotter. They’ve been winning by a lot and they’ve been winning by pulling out clutch games, having won 16 of 17 “clutch” games prior to the Game 3 loss to the Knicks.

Tuesday night at Gainbridge, they pulled within one win of providing the networks with their nightmare scenario – Pacers vs. Thunder – for a number of compelling reasons:

• Tyrese Haliburton was a superstar. Now, I tend to agree with Stephen A. Smith that Haliburton is not quite residing in the rare air of superstardom; to me, superstars bring their `A’ game every night, or close to every night. That’s not yet true of Haliburton, although in fairness, he’s still just 25 years old. He still has a tendency to disappear now and again, as he did in Game 3. But when he decides he’s going to get downhill and take over games, when he starts looking for his shot and finishes at the basket rather than kicking it out, he’s this team’s alpha and one of the most impactful players in the league.

Overrated? That’s funny.