The Los Angeles Lakers were abruptly sent packing in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves in a decisive five-game series.
Since the Lakers’ short postseason run came to a close, Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers has cashed in on the opportunity to gain ground on James in a wildly impressive playoff statistic.
Indiana is currently riding the high of their incredible 2025 postseason run, as they were able to take Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night after a Haliburton game-winning jump-shot with 0.3 seconds remaining.
With Haliburton’s latest clutch go-ahead field goal, he not only gave the Pacers a 111-110 victory to steal home-court advantage in the Finals, but he inched closer to an NBA Playoff record held by Los Angeles’ 21-time All-Star.
According to ExtraStats on Twitter/X, Haliburton registered his fifth game-tying or lead-taking shot with less than five seconds remaining in the playoffs. James holds the all-time record with eight such made field goals.
Throughout his illustrious 22-year NBA career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Lakers, James has proven to be one of, if not the greatest clutch performer in postseason history.
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James has competed in 55 playoff series’ including the Lakers’ first-round matchup against Minnesota, and he’s consistently elevated his game under the brightest of lights and in the most pressure-filled situations imaginable.
In 292 total playoff games, the 4-time NBA champion and Finals MVP has averaged a sublime 28.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.7 steals on a 53.7% effective field goal percentage.
While Haliburton is quickly catching up to the future Hall of Fame inductee with regard to this incredible achievement, he’s still got some work to do to draw even or exceed James’ number of legendary last-second makes in the playoffs.
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