“Need to see more consistency” – Stephen A. Smith refuses to offer Tyrese Haliburton a “superstar” label despite torching Knicks

Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers are one win away from the NBA Finals. The All-Star guard rose to the occasion and put up 32 points, 15 assists, 12 rebounds, five assists and zero turnovers, leading his team to a 130-121 home win over the New York Knicks on Tuesday.

It was the kind of coming-out performance that should put the league on notice. However, as good as he was, ESPN pundit Stephen A. Smith still isn’t sold on him as a superstar.

On Wednesday’s edition of “First Take,” Smith argued that as good as Haliburton is, and despite his excellent Game 4 performance, he needs to be more consistent.

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"The brother can ball, but when I think about a superstar, I'm thinking about a guy who can be a consistent number one option that teams have to game-plan against every single night and you answer the call," Smith said. "And, to me, that hasn't been Tyrese Haliburton. Even in this series, there's been a couple of games when he hasn't been there."

Haliburton is almost averaging a double-double in the playoffs with 19.4 points and 9.8 assists per game.

Tyrese Haliburton credits his father for career night

Tyrese Haliubrton put on a show in his father's return. John Haliburton missed the previous eight games after his confrontation with Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo. He was asked not to attend games anymore.

His suspension was lifted ahead of the pivotal Game 4 on Tuesday, and the broadcast repeatedly showed him celebrating his son's buckets.

Following his career night, Tyrese claimed that knowing his father was out there gave him additional motivation to be at his best.

"I’m glad Pops is in the building," Tyrese said. "Makes it that much more sweet. Yeah, he had a little bit to do with it."

Haliburton became the first player in NBA playoff history to record at least 30 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds without committing a single turnover. He also set a playoff record for the most assists without a turnover in a game.

The series will head back to Madison Square Garden for Game 5 on Thursday. Haliburton and the Pacers will have a chance to clinch their first finals berth in 25 years.

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About the author

Ernesto Cova

Ernesto Cova is a journalist at Sportskeeda with a PhD in Sports Psychology. His education helped him develop a clearer understanding of the sports world as a whole, including basketball. Ernesto has over eight years of experience in the field, working for Fadeaway World, The Inquisitr, NBA Blast, The Cold Wire and Bolavip, among others.

His favorite team is the Chicago Bulls because of the Michael Jordan era. Jordan is Ernesto's all-time favorite, as he changed the game forever. Ernesto's second favorite was Kobe Bryant because he embodied that same competitive fire and Ernesto watched him play throughout his entire career. Nowadays, Ernesto really likes Stephen Curry, who he believes to be the most influential player of the past 15 years or so.

Ernesto's favorite basketball moment was when Venezuela -- his country -- took down Canada to take home the 2015 FIBA Americas Cup.

When not watching or writing about basketball, Ernesto likes to read and is interested in photography.

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