The Indiana Pacers have just come off beating the Orlando Magic 121-108 on Saturday. This victory is notable not only because it’s only the Pacers’ third win in the last 10 games, but because it’s Tyrese Haliburton‘s 10th game since his return from injury, an injury he suffered in January which he missed 10 games because of.
Now, it is without question that the Indiana Pacers are Tyrese Haliburton’s team. While he isn’t the most tenured player in Indiana, that being Myles Turner, or the oldest, that being James Johnson, Tyrese is undoubtedly the Indiana Pacers’ crown jewel, the guy that they will most likely be building the team around, and the guy that free agents will most want to play with in Indiana.
With that said, it makes sense that the Pacers would be worse without Haliburton, who excels in not only setting himself up for buckets but getting every single one of his teammates involved with his playmaking, which is evident by him currently being top 5 in the NBA in assists per game with 10.2, as well as his 40% shooting clip from the 3 point line. Since Tyrese has been back for exactly 10 games and was out with injury for exactly 10 games, now would be a good time to compare the Indiana Pacers’ fortunes in the 10 games without Tyrese Haliburton with how they have fared with Haliburton back running the show.