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.
Pacers without Haliburton:
The Indiana Pacers without Tyrese Haliburton were a pretty big mess. Through the 10 games he missed with injury, Indiana went 9-1 and had some pretty embarrassing losses. Some of these losses were against pretty meager teams including the Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic, and a Phoenix Suns team that was playing without Deandre Ayton, Chris Paul, or Devin Booker.
Through these 10 games, the Pacers scored an average of about 113 points per game, which was down from their 118 points per game in the 10 games before, stretching back to December of 2022 and when Haliburton was healthy (They went 6-4 in those games). Along with the decrease in points, Indiana was down in assists without their best passer (239 vs 264), had more turnovers (154 vs 124), committed more fouls (201 vs 212), and shot much worse from every part of the court despite players like Buddy Hield still being healthy and ready to play (44/35/81 splits vs 48/37/83 splits).
Prior to this 10 game stretch and Tyrese’s injury, the Pacers were sitting at 23-19 and defied everyone’s expectations as they held the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference and were already crushing their expected win total of 23.5 on the entire season. At their best points, Haliburton and Mathurin were playing like MVP and Rookie of the Year candidates, respectively and the Pacers were playing like a well-oiled machine. However, all of that changed after their January 11th matchup against the Knicks.
During that 6-point loss, Tyrese Haliburton came up limping after a layup attempt was blocked and left the game with a left knee injury that kept him sidelined for those aforementioned 10 games. During those 10 games, Indiana’s hopes of a possible playoff run gradually slipped from their hands and they reverted to what they were expected to be at the start of the season, a young, inexperienced team that lost a lot en route to a potential high draft pick.
And as you are going to see, this would not drastically change with Haliburton returning to the team.
Pacers with Haliburton:
While the Pacers were pretty bad without Haliburton, that was to be expected by most people, and the general consensus was that they would return back to their competitive form once he returned from injury against the Lakers on February 2, 2023. And while Tyrese and the Pacers did give fans a treat that night, scoring 26 points and handing out 12 assists en route to a 1-point loss, the Pacers’ fortunes would only slightly get better in the 10 games that followed his return.
In the 10 games since Tyrese’s return, the Pacers have gone 3-7 with those victories being a 3-point win over the Sacramento Kings missing De’Aaron Fox, a 24-point comeback win over the Chicago Bulls, and a decisive 13-point win over the lowly Orlando Magic. In these 10 games, Tyrese has averaged 18 points, 10 assists, and 2 rebounds on 49/40/81% splits, which is a bit down from his 10 games before the injury, where he was averaging 21/9/4 while shooting 51/43/91%. However, this is to be expected since he has just returned from an injury and needed time to get back into the swing of things after missing 10 games.
Despite Haliburton’s efforts, the Pacers have been on the losing end of some pretty competitive games, including that aforementioned loss to the Lakers by 1 point and a 4-point overtime loss to the 1-seeded Boston Celtics. However, for every competitive loss against a powerhouse team, there’s a blowout loss to a not-as-good team, such as a 14-point loss to a 26-29 Wizards team or a 19-point loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The fact that the Pacers have had a few games suiting up only 9 players due to injury has not helped much either, with the likes of Oshae Brissett, Chris Duarte, and Isaiah Jackson all missing time due to injury over this 10-game span.
Through said 10 games, the Pacers have definitely improved in some categories but have gotten worse in others. They have scored an average of 114 points, slightly higher than the 113 they averaged in the 10 games before. In addition to this, they have also committed fewer turnovers (127 vs 154), committed fewer fouls, (205 vs 212), and have shot better from the field and the 3-point line (47/39% vs 44/33%). However, these numbers are clearly not as good as their 10 games before Tyrese’s injury, perhaps signaling that the writing is on the wall for the Pacers this year. As they sit with a 27-35 record and the 12th seed in the East (out of the play-in), perhaps they might take it easy for the rest of the season en route to a potential top 5 draft pick.
One thing’s for sure though, the Indiana Pacers that we have seen over the past 20 games are not the same team we saw during the first half of the season, for better or for worse.
Breaking News: Pacers rookie undergoes surgery and will be out for season
The Pacers season has largely been able to avoid injury to date and we hope that continues. However, that changed on Tuesday with a season-ending surgery.