Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton Slams Doubters Following Big Win Over Suns

The Indiana Pacers got a massive win over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night by a score of 120-111. Indiana left pretty much the entire way and came away with one of the biggest wins of the entire season.

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The Pacers are currently on a three-game win streak and are starting to slowly look like the team that they were last season. Indiana reached the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago but came out of the gates very slowly this year.

Part of that had to do with inconsistent play from game to game but injuries also played a factor. Indiana lost multiple players to season-ending injuries and they have been without some key players for a while.

Both Aaron Nesmith and Andrew Nembhard missed time, hurting the Pacers on the defensive end. Nesmith remains out but Nembhard has returned and it's made a massive difference.

After the game against Phoenix, Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton took aim at anyone who doubted this team. Haliburton referenced the injuries and how people have been assuming that they have been healthy.

"They're two of our best on-ball defenders," Haliburton said. "People are pretending like we're not missing anybody. We were missing those guys, Double-A (Nesmith) and both of our backup bigs are out. From the world, they were acting like we were fully healthy. It's good to get our guys back. I can't wait to get Double-A back, keep adding to our depth and being ready to go."

The Pacers star guard has a point but excuses can't be made. Every team deals with injuries and the Pacers have had chances to win some games that they have lost.

Haliburton himself has struggled this season and it's put a damper on the year. But things seem to be rounding back into form for Indiana. Pacers forward Obi Toppin even weighed in on it all.

"We needed those practices obviously," forward Obi Toppin said. "We're playing well after them. We're actually locking in. You can see everybody is focusing on the defensive side because the more stops and rebounds we get, the more transition points we get. Those easy buckets are great for our team, so we're going to continue doing that."

The Pacers have a tough stretch of games coming up that could decide how the year turns out. While it may be early still, Indiana doesn't want to dig itself too deeply into a hole.

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