Indiana Pacers need more than just Tyrese Haliburton to be consistent winners
Tyrese Haliburton tied the Indiana Pacers franchise record for points in a quarter on Saturday night, scoring 25 in the third frame to push his team back in front. Indiana scored 50 points in that quarter and took the lead heading into the final 12 minutes.
Haliburton finished the game with 43 points, which tied his career high, and 12 assists. The Pacers outscored the Charlotte Hornets by eight with him on the floor. But when Haliburton took the stand for his postgame press conference, he was extremely disappointed and didn't have much to say.
That's because the Pacers lost 125-124 despite Haliburton's brilliant night. He was taking, and making, heat check jumpers in the third quarter and could get basically whatever shot he wanted all night, but it still wasn't enough for the blue and gold to notch a victory.
"Ty did a good job bringing us back in. His special play, just putting us on his back like he does most nights. Tough game man," Pacers guard Buddy Hield said after the game.
Haliburton was truly brilliant. He had just 13 points at halftime, but he exploded in that third frame. He was hitting everything — from deep, at the rim, everywhere. Indiana made 17 shots in that quarter, and Haliburton either scored or assisted 14 of them. He was the entire offense.
Throughout the game, Hield had some nice moments as he finished with 19 points. But it took him 15 shots to get there, and in general Indiana did not get enough offensively from non-Haliburton players to get the win.
"Missed shots," Hield said of the offensive inconsistency for the team.
The Pacers scored 46 points in the first half and didn't score 30 in any individual quarter outside of the magnificent 50 in the third. Their offense came and went. They needed someone else to step up alongside Haliburton to get the win, but that didn't happen.
Myles Turner had an efficient 14 points. Bruce Brown and Bennedict Mathurin, who combined for 11 assists, were 6/19 from the field together. Jalen Smith was the only bench player to shoot better than 50% from the floor. Nobody had a concerning game for the blue and gold, but nobody stepped up and gave Haliburton a second weapon either.
That's been a theme for the Pacers this season. Haliburton has been tremendous, and many of his teammates are having nice seasons. They just have needed someone else to step up every game, and that hasn't always happened.
Indiana's three wins all contained a key performer beyond the star guard. Brown had 24 points in the team's opening night win over Washington, and Mathurin added 18 points and five assists. When the Pacers beat the Cavaliers in Cleveland, Haliburton was huge in the clutch, and they also got an important 26 points from Aaron Nesmith. On Friday night, they beat Cleveland again, and Myles Turner finished with 27 points. Someone else rose to the occasion in all three wins.
That wasn't the case in the Pacers three losses. In one of the three — a blowout loss in Boston — Haliburton didn't even play. Nobody was good for Indiana that night. But their other two losses were by a combined eight points, and they just needed one more guy to step up.
That can be on either end, too. Someone raising their defensive level would go a long way for the blue and gold — in their three losses this season, an opposing trio has scored 65+ points on the blue and gold. Their defensive rating currently ranks last in the NBA, though it is heavily influenced by the loss in Boston.
"Just mad. Don't want to lose. Everybody's angry," Haliburton said after the loss to the Hornets last night.
Prior to the 43-point outing, Haliburton hasn't even been particularly proud of his play. He mentioned early in the season that he felt like he was unintentionally coasting at times, and his shot hadn't been falling at a rate he was happy with prior to Saturday. The star guard can be better. He knows it, he's a perfectionist.
"Law of averages. I've been rough the last couple of games. Stay true to my work, know good things will happen," Haliburton said of his third quarter explosion.
The Pacers are at their best when one other player steps up alongside their star. As a deep team, it could be someone different every game. But it has to be someone. On Saturday night, that didn't happen.
Indiana will get another chance to climb over .500 on Monday night when they host Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. Haliburton will hope to follow up his huge performance with another big game, and the Pacers will hope they can get enough production elsewhere to win.
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