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

Ladies and Gentlemen, Tyrese Haliburton is back! 

After not playing a game since March 25th’s matchup with the Atlanta Hawks and missing the final 7 games of the 2022-23 season due to ankle issues, Tyrese Haliburton has stepped onto the court again in Team USA’s first exhibition in Las Vegas against Puerto Rico on August 7th. Shortly after signing a $260-million maximum extension to stay in a Pacers uniform for the next five years, Haliburton is representing the USA in the FIBA World Cup. Unfortunately, Haliburton did not get the starting nod, instead losing it to fellow Eastern Conference guard and All-Star snub, Jalen Brunson.

Bench role aside, Haliburton is projected to have a sizable role in Team USA’s World Cup rotation, nabbing the backup point guard spot. Haliburton also got some flack from social media during the USA/Select scrimmages for his defense, or lack thereof, against the Select Team’s Cade Cunningham.

Defensive issues aside, Haliburton played quite a bit in USA’s victory against Puerto Rico in Monday’s exhibition, and while he didn’t score much, he did get to show a lot of what Pacers fans have come to know and love him for.

Tyrese vs. Puerto Rico: First Half

Despite having a pretty high spot in the bench rotation, Tyrese Haliburton had a relatively quiet first half.

After getting subbed in with 2:26 left in the first quarter, Haliburton went to work, grabbing a defensive rebound and logging his first assist a mere minute after checking in on a Bobby Portis jumper.

Haliburton was relatively quiet for the rest of the quarter, not logging any stats until the second quarter, where he logged 4 assists, missed one 3-pointer, and drew an offensive foul off the ball on Puerto Rico’s Ismael Romero before getting subbed out with 4:54 remaining in the half.

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.

Haliburton’s Final Stats and Takeaways

All in all, Tyrese Haliburton had a very productive night against Puerto Rico, logging 7 points (3-5 FG and 1-2 3PT), 12 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 block, and only 1 turnover in 21 total minutes of play off the bench as Team USA cruised past Puerto Rico 117-74. Additionally, Haliburton’s 11 assists were only 3 less than Puerto Rico’s entire team combined (14). Stats aside, Team USA looked much more connected and fluid with Haliburton on the floor as opposed to when he was on the bench, as they trusted the point guard to get them easy scoring opportunities both in transition and in the half-court.

Haliburton’s play also translated in the non-counting numbers as well, with him leading all players on both teams with an individual +/- of +24.

To sum it up, Tyrese Haliburton has a very good performance in Team USA’s first showcase game against Puerto Rico and perhaps this performance will lead USA’s coach, Steve Kerr to call Haliburton’s number more often, as the team played like a well-oiled machine with him on the floor. One thing that many would like to see in future games, is for Tyrese to have a bigger impact on the scoring column, as he only scored 7 points, with 5 of them coming in the 4th quarter. However, this is likely to change in the future, as Kerr tinkers with his lineups more and gives certain players more or fewer touches. For now, we can say that Tyrese’s performance in game 1 was very promising, and gives Pacers’ fans hope for what we can see in the future.

Indiana Pacers: You want excitement? Now’s the time.

Are you a Pacers fan that has been waiting for the team to turn a corner? Have you been wanting them to make big moves? You got your wish.