After losing seven straight, Wednesday night’s victory over the Wizards not only snapped their skid, but also marked the first time that the Indiana Pacers carved out a win since the arrival of their trade deadline acquisitions in Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, and Jalen Smith.
(Note: Tristan Thompson has been waived and will sign with Chicago after clearing waivers.)
While the Pacers have incurred more losses since the team has been quite different from the eye test. Beyond the new faces, Indiana has played a more rousing and unselfish style of basketball that fits the current personnel better. The culprit? Look no further than Haliburton, who has continuously showcased his tremendous acumen as a playmaker since donning the blue and gold.
The Indiana Pacers are becoming a more ball movement-centric team thanks to Tyrese Haliburton
Since the trade deadline, the Indiana Pacers have averaged 28.8 assists per game, good for fourth in the league in that span. As a guidepost, the San Antonio Spurs lead the association with 28.0 per contest. It’s certainly a small sample size, but it is still a stark difference from their overall mark this season of 24.5 dimes per outing.
Led by Tyrese Haliburton, who has logged 11.0 assists per game in his first four contests with the team, the Pacers appear to be much more fluid in the half-court and in the break. Coach Rick Carlisle has provided him with full control of the ball, giving him essentially the Luka Doncic treatment where play calls stem from the playmaker at large and commence faster.
With Indiana now re-emphasizing pace, the big men have gotten the bulk of Haliburton’s distribution by making themselves available and slicing through the lanes. When the primary set is not available, the Pacers default to a simple pick-and-roll, which has been an efficient source of points.
The addition of Buddy Hield and his lethal three-point shooting ability has also given cutters like Oshae Brissett and Terry Taylor more leeway to find their spots, allowing Haliburton and the other playmakers to have more room to operate without having to thread difficult passes and risk turning the ball over. As a result, plays like this one are now often:
Jalen Smith‘s addition has effectively given the Pacers another three-point shooting big man, allowing Rick Carlisle to go to his favored five-out sets to make full use of Haliburton’s skillset. Look at all the room Taylor has on this one with virtually all players starting from the perimeter:
It hasn’t been like this every time, but Indiana is finally starting to grasp the nuances of being a ball movement team, shunning away their near past of being a predictable offensive team with tentative offensive outlets and shaky isolation scorers.
The Indiana Pacers still have a ways to go, as their record indicates, but with the franchise starting to go full throttle with their new direction, they should be poised to break out sooner than later, with Tyrese Haliburton propelling them to a more fluid style of basketball.