Player grades: Pacers rally from slow start to trump road-weary Raptors

Tyrese Haliburton continued to propel the Indiana Pacers to victory despite a horrible shooting night

Logging a near-50-40-90 season so far, Tyrese Haliburton uncharacteristically struggled with his shot against the Raptors, finishing the game with just eight points on a season-worst 3-14 shooting overall, including just 2-9 from downtown.

Ultimately, it didn’t matter. The lanky playmaker was definitely unfazed by his misses, ending the game with an astounding 15 assists (eclipsing the entire Raptors’ total) and a game-high +26 in 39 minutes of court time. His deep three-pointer ignited a 14-3 run late in the fourth quarter that essentially clinched the win for the Pacers.

Despite being hounded all night by the Raptors’ shifty defensive schemes, Haliburton’s playmaking never missed a beat, spearheading a balanced attack that saw six different players log double digits in scoring.

Haliburton will surely progress to his averages, but in a rare game that saw him almost turn in a zero from the scoring department, this was a good challenge for him to find ways to continue leaving his imprint on the team. If you ask me, he absolutely passed with flying colors.

Tyrese Haliburton: A