After missing Saturday’s win over Miami due to an upper respiratory infection, Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton got off to a slow start in Monday’s in-season tournament quarterfinal and had to use an inhaler at halftime, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. He bounced back in a big way in the second half, registering his first career triple-double (26 points, 13 assists, 10 rebounds) and leading Indiana to a comeback victory over the favored Celtics.
It was the first Pacers game this season that was nationally televised and it represented an opportunity for one of the NBA’s rising talents to show off his game for a wider audience, according to David Aldridge of The Athletic, who suggests that Haliburton’s star turn has been the best thing about the in-season tournament so far.
“You don’t play on national TV if you don’t win games,” Haliburton said. “The more we come out here and prove that, on a night-to-night basis, that we can win games, it’s gonna change. And that’s all that we’re about right now; changing how this organization is viewed and how we are as players viewed, and just coming out here and competing every night.”
The fourth-year guard has been the driving force of a Pacers offense that has a 123.6 rating, which is the top mark in the league by nearly four full points. He earned “MVP” chants from the home crowd in Indiana.
“I haven’t heard MVP chants, maybe when (Victor) Oladipo was here, but Ty’s really come in and taken over and it’s fun stuff,” Myles Turner said after the victory, per Bontemps.
Here’s more on the NBA’s in-season tournament:
- Although Larry Nance Jr. is currently on the shelf, the Pelicans are otherwise as healthy as they’ve been since early in the 2022/23 season — they’re eager to make a run at show what this roster is capable of, according to Kendra Andrews of ESPN. That effort began with a quarterfinal win over Sacramento on Monday. Star forward Zion Williamson only scored 10 points in the victory, but New Orleans got at least 16 points apiece from five players, including the other four starters. “With their complete roster, they are the team that I could see challenging the Denver Nuggets for the top team in the West,” a league source told ESPN.
- In an announcement on Monday (Twitter link), the league unveiled its new awards related to the in-season tournament, including the NBA Cup for the team that wins the event and the trophies for the tournament’s MVP and all-tournament team.
- Players on two-way contracts will receive half the prize money that players on standard deals will receive in the in-season tournament, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. That means a two-way player on the championship team would receive $250K rather than $500K, but that’s still a significant chunk of money for players who are earning just $559,782 this season. “It’s another good reason to be motivated,” Suns two-way player Saben Lee said, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. “But regardless, guys love to play basketball and compete at a high level.”
- A few of the teams still alive in the tournament have open roster spots, so it’s worth noting that a player won’t be eligible to participate in the tournament final unless he’s added to the roster before the semifinals, according to Marks (Twitter link).
Tyrese Haliburton is the real deal. Enjoy greatness all. He’s fun to watch.
Great game from him, and the Pacers’ D was noticeably improved. I think the Bucks will beat the Knicks, making for a pretty tough next game in Vegas (since the Pacers don’t really have a defense for Giannis, who put up 54 in their 1st meeting with Lillard out).
That said, I think it won’t be a blowout and if they can guard the rest of the team they just might win a close one.
In season tournament has been absolutely electric so far, as I predicted. Wonder if stakes of future ASGs will impact IST advantages, since they’re not quite as impactful as the playoffs and even bad teams have a shot…Nostradunker ponders this
When Playoff Al Horford starts & only gets 3 shots, and only 1 from three point range, we know as soon as Al passes the ball it never came back to him. Meaning we’re playing ISO ball. And when our big offensive rebounder Queta never plays we’d better outshoot our opponent from three point land. Playing Queta means more shots in close which we should try each & every game. Go Celtics!