Haliburton stars as Pacers oust Celtics, Pelicans advance in NBA Cup

LOS ANGELES: The Indiana Pacers, fueled by Tyrese Haliburton's first career triple-double, beat the Boston Celtics 122-112 Monday (Dec 4) to reach the semifinals of the NBA's new in-season tournament.

The New Orleans Pelicans also booked their spot in Thursday's semifinals in Las Vegas, shaking off a slow start to beat the Kings 127-117 in Sacramento.

In Indianapolis, Haliburton scored 26 points with 10 rebounds and 13 assists and the Pacers put together a 9-0 scoring run with less than two minutes remaining to take control of a tightly contested battle.

The Pacers, ranked sixth in the Eastern Conference regular-season standings, knocked out the East-leading Celtics and will face either the Milwaukee Bucks or New York Knicks in the semifinals.

The Bucks host the New York Knicks in the quarters on Tuesday and Haliburton said the Pacers will be ready for either one.

"We're a young, hungry group and we want to win every night," Haliburton said. "So we're excited to be there, but we're not complacent being there. We want to win."

Buddy Hield added 21 points for the Pacers, who had seven players score in double figures to the delight of the 16,000-plus crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

"The atmosphere is crazy," Haliburton said of the playoff-type intensity in the arena, which was just what the NBA was looking for when it launched the in-season tournament hoping it would lend excitement to the early stages of a long season.

"I love this," Haliburton said.

Jayson Tatum scored 32 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Jaylen Brown added 30 points and nine rebounds for Boston, who dominated inside in the first half but just couldn't keep the prolific Pacers offense in check in the second.

Boston out-scored Indiana 32-14 in the paint and