Before the Indiana Pacers faced off against the New York Knicks last night, Rick Carlisle was asked about the team’s defensive improvements over the last few games.
“Being historically great on offense is fun, but even dating a pretty girl gets boring after awhile if she can’t guard anybody,” Carlisle said during his response about needing to sustain recent improvements and continue to focus on the details on that end.
While the Pacers gave up 126 points to the Knicks, I think it’s safe to say no one’s getting bored quite yet as Tyrese Haliburton sliced up the double teams and various coverages from New York to the tune of 23 assists, which tied the Pacers single-game record held by Jamaal Tinsley, as he led his team to a 140-126 win.
22 points, 23 assists, 2 turnovers in yet another historic performance from the Pacers superstar.
“His offensive level is beyond elite,” said Carlisle. “He’s put a lot of work in these last two summers: reads, being able to create rim pressure and to increase his range. So, teams are in a real bind. He causes major problems.”
Haliburton became just the third player in NBA history to have over 20 points and 20 assists in consecutive games, joining two Hall-of-Fame point guards in Magic Johnson and John Stockton. No player has done it in over 33 years. After a mini-slump post In-Season Tournament with him facing more attention and focus from defenses, he’s broken out of it in impressive fashion over the last week averaging 26.3 points, 17 assists, and 2 steals with the Pacers outscoring their opponents by 74 points during his minutes in this stretch.
“We had the most threes in franchise history today,” Haliburton said. “It’s a common theme. Assists don’t happen without making shots … It’s no surprise that those things correlate. Guys have to make shots for me to get assists. We’re doing that at a high clip right now. Everybody shot the ball well from three except for me.”
Haliburton was nearly flawless beyond making only 2 of his 9 three-point attempts. Everyone else on the roster went 21 for 33 (63.6%) led by Aaron Nesmith (7 for 11) and Myles Turner (6 for 8). Haliburton made 6 of his 7 2-point attempts including this ridiculous layup where he switched hands like Michael Jordan.
“He just keeps getting better and better and better,” Turner said of Haliburton. “He’s not satisfied with his past performances. It’s easy to get satisfied and say ‘I’m an All-Star,’ but he’s continued to add more and more to his game …He just knows the game so well. It’s been a pleasure to be able to play with him.”
He picked apart every defense the Knicks threw his way as he continues to show more and more comfort while facing doubles and blitzes that gave the Pacers offense fits for a stretch earlier this month.
“They were kind of in a soft blitz and mixed it up into a real blitz … if you’re putting two on the ball and allowing me to pass out of it if you’re not rotating right then guys usually get good shots,” Haliburton said after the game. “I tend to make the right play more times than not. That’s been the cool part of experiencing this over the last month, seeing doubles, learning how to beat them the right way, and understanding that.”
Turner says that being more aggressive is helping Haliburton and the team beat that type of coverage.
“I think in those situations a lot of bigs look to pass and distribute the ball when my first look is at the basket,” Turner said. “Obviously, that helps him with getting assists but if they take that away we have great shooters.” The longest-tenured Pacer highlighted Haliburton’s ability to dissect defenses and put his teammates in positions to succeed, saying even as the veteran he’s always coming to his point guard to see how he wants to approach certain plays.
Five of Haliburton’s 23 assists were on Aaron Nesmith 3-pointers. The recent addition to the starting lineup is now leading the NBA in 3-point percentage (48%) while being the team’s best perimeter defenders.
The Pacers next month of the season is their toughest part of the schedule as they four of their next five games are against either the Milwaukee Bucks or Boston Celtics. With the Pacers on a 3-game winning streak, we’ll see if they can maintain that momentum as the level of difficulty increases.
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