Halliburton became the king of killing in contempt and setbacks. Does he want to copy the miracle of King No, 14 years ago?

The team was behind at most 15 points in the fourth quarter, and the leading star, who was constantly being examined by public opinion with a critical eye, used a fatal blow to change his fate.

There are always some amazing similarities in the long river of history. On June 6, the classic plot 14 years ago reenacted.

2011 Finals G2, the Heat led by 15 points in 7 minutes and 13 seconds before the end of the fourth quarter, and it seemed that the Mavericks set off a counterattack frenzy to tie the score to 93. In the last moment, Nowitzki broke through the sword in a single and drew his hair, making a layup across the Heat's throat and killed him with one blow.

14 years later, the Thunder led by 15 minutes and 42 seconds before the end of the fourth quarter, looking ready to catch the juice from the fire. Pacers, who never knew what to give up, chased the score wildly, and finally caught up to 109-110 with only 1 point. In the last moment, Halliburton took over the game, stopped the mid-range shot and killed the game, completing the reversal.

Halliburton and Nowitzki's life trajectory are too similar. They endured a lot of doubts in the early stages of their careers, and public opinion is not optimistic that they are capable of being the core of the championship team. Nowitzki proved himself with a crown, and now Halliburton sees the possibility of copying Nowitzki's miracle.

Another coincidence: their coaches are all Carlisle, as if the thread of fate has connected them together.

When Nowitzki first entered the NBA, international players were not as dominant as they are now. Especially the white European players are not trusted in the American basketball world. Nowitzki, who mainly focuses on shooting, is criticized for playing too softly and is difficult to play as the core.

Nowitzki is at least a household name in Europe and is regarded as a treasure by the German basketball world. Halliburton's starting point is much lower than Nowitzki. When he was a child, Halliburton said, "My dream is to become an NBA player." However, the school counselor poured cold water on Halliburton and said, "Please choose a realistic goal. We, a small and broken place, cannot achieve such a dream."

Halliburton was given up by the school team in the first year of high school. When he graduated from high school, few college teams gave him scholarships, so he had to go to Iowa State University. Halliburton submitted an application to test the draft after finishing his freshman season. Data shows that the probability of being selected in the first round is 33%, and there is still a 33% chance of losing. Halliburton chose to stay in college and play for another year.

Halliburton basically guaranteed lottery when he participated in the draft in 2020. He hoped to be selected by the Warriors in the second pick, and also received the Warriors' trial and performed well. However, that year, the Warriors insisted on choosing an inside to improve their height, and finally chose James Wiseman. It was not only the Warriors who skipped Halliburton. 11 teams gave up Halliburton, including the Hornets and Pistons who were in urgent need of point guard.

Halliburton was selected by the Kings at the 12th pick, but after only one and a half seasons for the Kings, Halliburton was traded. Halliburton was furious when the Kings' choice made him frankly, "I couldn't believe that something like this happened. I was very angry at that time. It took a few weeks to recover and understand everything that happened."

Halliburton was constantly asked to prove himself throughout his basketball career. He wanted to prove that he was worthy of being a high school team, to prove that he was worthy of entering the NBA from elementary school, to prove that he was worthy of the No. 12 pick, and to prove that weird shooting moves can be transformed into scoring. When he came to Indianapolis, he was asked to prove that he deserved the cornerstone of the team building. In the 2022-23 season, Halliburton was selected as the All-Star and the All-Star team last season was selected as the All-Star and the Best Team in the second half of the season, leading the team to the Eastern Conference Finals.

The doubters still did not let Halliburton go, he conquered one hill after another, and new obstacles followed one after another. During the 2024 offseason, Halliburton was selected for the US men's basketball team, but he only played 26 minutes in the Paris Olympics, including the semi-finals and finals. In the first half of the season, Halliburton performed poorly due to his old injuries last season and new injuries during the Olympics. Halliburton was named "the most overrated player" by his peers in a player vote.

"I was ridiculed, how should I fight back? I performed so badly, what qualifications do I have to say?" Halliburton held his breath and couldn't release it. "This was a difficult year, except for the year I was traded, this was the most difficult year in my basketball career. Entering the new season with high expectations for myself and the expectations of the outside world for me. As a result, he performed poorly at the beginning of the season. It felt like all the pressure was piled up on me. At the beginning of the season, I didn't even want to participate in training."

"Basketball is my source of happiness, but for the first time, I couldn't feel happy." Nowitzki once empathized with such pain, and the pressure he was under was even greater than Halliburton. Nowitzki lost the finals in 2006, which was a pain for his life. Nowitzki won the regular season MVP in the 2006-07 season, but the Mavericks were beaten to the eighth in the first round. In the following three seasons, the Mavericks were always lukewarm, out twice in the first round and once in the second round, and Nowitzki was already in his thirty years.

Halliburton is much luckier than Nowitzki. He is only 25 years old, and this is only the fifth season of his career.

In the second half of the regular season, Halliburton recovered his form as his health and psychological condition improved. In the last 21 games of the regular season, he averaged 20.6 points and 11 assists per game with a shooting percentage of 53%. The Pacers ended up with 16 wins and 5 losses, entering the playoffs with fourth place in the Eastern Conference. In the playoffs, although Halliburton's personal data averaged 18.5 points and 9.5 assists per game is not a big explosion, and some games will have major ups and downs, Halliburton has transformed into a super key gentleman, and is the core figure of the Pacers' reversals again and again. Those wonderful key balls have brought him a lot of exposure.

In fact, Halliburton had nothing to do with "Key Mr." at first. From 2021 to 2023, in the last 2 minutes or overtime, when he equalized or overtook the ball, he made only 10 of his 30 shots, of which only 4 of his 22 three-pointers were made.. Halliburton admitted that at that time, the Pacers' record was not ideal and no one cared about his key ball data. He could polish his key ball abilities through actual combat without pressure, calling that bleak experience "baptism on the line of fire."

"Those experiences made sense to me, and experiences were the best teachers," Halliburton said.

In this year's playoffs, Halliburton allowed the world to see the transformation of his key ball ability.

played the Bucks G5 in the first round. 1.3 seconds before the end of overtime, Halliburton singled Antetokounmpo to kill the game. Halliburton performed poorly most of that game, the Pacers were once 20 points behind, and Halliburton did not dare to get the ball in the last stage. Turner yelled "Go and get the ball" and forced Halliburton's potential.

The Eastern Conference semi-finals played against the Cavaliers G2, Halliburton won 1+3.

played against the Knicks G1 in the Eastern Conference Finals, Halliburton made a magical jump shot through the three-point line and dragged the game into overtime.

Finals G1, Halliburton scored a final shot in 0.3 seconds. In the four-round series, Halliburton scored key goals in each round, including 3 finals and one tie. According to statistics, in the regular season and playoffs, Halliburton took 15 equalizers or overtaken the ball in the last 2 minutes of the game, scoring 13, with an amazing efficiency. From 1997 to the present, Halliburton made 5 equalizers or overtaken the ball in the last 5 seconds of the playoffs, tied Reggie Miller, second only to James (8).

This season's playoffs, Halliburton made 12 of 23 shots in the fourth quarter and the last 5 minutes of overtime, with a total of 52.2%. In the playoffs 14 years ago, Nowitzki made 15 of 28 shots, with a 53.6% chance of sight.

"He has the ultimate confidence," Turner praised Halliburton. "In this environment, players like him who have key ball traits will stand up. He stands up again and again to prove himself, never afraid of critical moments."

"Critical moments are prepared for him." Every time Halliburton hits a key ball, he always remembers the scenes when he was a child.

Which child who has played basketball since childhood has never simulated a final kill at home or on the playground, fantasizing that he will hit the final kill at the right moment between the winner and the loser? The same goes for Halliburton, who grew up in Oshkesh, Wisconsin. He often pretended to be at a critical moment in the corridors of his home, muttering the countdown of numbers and holding a sock as a ball.

Now Halliburton turns childhood imagination into reality in the finals. Like Nowitzki 14 years ago, he ignited the flame of hope for winning the championship with a final kill.