Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton's insane 26-point quarter vs. Hawks fuels MVP talks

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton set social media on fire with an epic performance against the Hawks on Tuesday.

On Tuesday evening, Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers improved to 8-5 on the young 2023-24 NBA season with a wild 157-152 win on the road over the Atlanta Hawks. Haliburton was electric in this one, scoring 37 points, dishing out 16 assists, and grabbing five rebounds, leading the Pacers to victory in a game they once trailed by twenty points.

In fact, so electric was Haliburton's third quarter performance that he set X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, into a firestorm in the process.

Some users speculated that a league MVP award could be on Haliburton's horizon after the impressive performance.

!!!!

!!! pic.twitter.com/2FLfI4qxBX

— Facci November 22, 2023

Others went so far as to suggest that the NBA is rigged if Haliburton is not at least in the discussion for the coveted award this year.

If Tyrese Haliburton isn’t going to be in serious MVP consideration, the NBA is rigged. #BoomBaby

— Josh Spicer November 22, 2023

While the Pacers likely won't win enough games this season in order to generate true MVP consideration for their point guard, it's still safe to say that few could have seen Haliburton breaking out in this sort of fashion this early into his career. On Tuesday night, he absolutely lit up the Hawks, showing off his unique combination of size, shooting prowess, and court vision against a listless Atlanta defense.

Up next for the Pacers, the team will look to improve to 9-5 when they host the Toronto Raptors on November 22.