Indiana Pacers: Evaluating Tyrese Haliburton’s Performance vs Puerto Rico

Tyrese vs. Puerto Rico: Second Half

Haliburton wouldn’t be out of the game long, checking back in with 4:08 left in the third quarter but committing a turnover around 30 seconds later on a bad pass sailing out of bounds. He would shortly redeem himself, however, with 2 assists before the end of the quarter, including this dime off a rebound to Cam Johnson, whose name you will hear again shortly.

The fourth quarter, much like the regular season, is where Haliburton would save his best work. With 9:39 remaining in the game, Haliburton would score his first points on a crafty layup in traffic following a crossover.

This would just be the start of Haliburton’s 4th quarter parade, however, a minute and a half later, he would tip a missed Tremont Waters shot his way and orchestrate perhaps the highlight of the game, an alley-oop pass leading to a thunderous Cam Johnson dunk on the other end, for his 8th assist of the game, and extending Team USA’s lead to 31, on an 18-0 run.

Haliburton was not finished, however, as he logged another assist to Cam Johnson, this time on a 3-pointer, and got his 10th assist with perhaps his finest play of the night, a no-look dime to Jaren Jackson Jr. for a dunk, moving the defense with his eyes, leading Jackson to have a wide-open opportunity at the basket.

Haliburton would also get a block on an Aleem Ford three and hit a three of his own a minute later off an Anthony Edwards kickout pass, increasing his point total to 5 for the night. Haliburton would score his final points of the night with authority, throwing down a right-handed tomahawk dunk in the open court off an Austin Reaves pass.

Haliburton would cap off his night with his 11th assist, hitting up Walker Kessler for a garbage time bucket in the paint.