Why Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton has dazzled in 5 games for Team USA

Game 3 vs Spain

As promised, Tyrese Haliburton and Team USA were back on the court the next day, this time facing a very talented Spain team in their first real challenge of the scrimmage games so far.

Now, if you’re a fan of an aggressive, scoring-oriented Tyrese Haliburton, then you may want to avert your eyes for a bit as this was an all-out assisting spectacular. This did not seem like the case at first, as Tyrese started off his performance with a pull-up jumper on the baseline in the first quarter.

However, soon after came the assists. as Tyrese Haliburton would have seven of them in the first quarter, including 2 to his favorite target Cam Johnson, as the two started building some serious chemistry that could have Pacers fans excited for the potential future.

Haliburton’s best assist of the half, however, would probably come from this tip pass to Austin Reaves for a dunk to end the first half.

Although a somewhat slow start, the second half would be more of the same, with Tyrese getting two assists in the third quarter and reaching the double-digit assist mark for the second time in 3 games with one to Jaren Jackson Jr. However, my favorite assist of the game would probably be this left-handed cross-court pass to Mikal Bridges for the 3 to extend Team USA’s lead to 4 in the fourth quarter.

One final assist to Austin Reaves later, and Tyrese Haliburton’s contributions would be over.

At the end of the day, this was a flat-out Tyrese Haliburton passing masterclass as he fully put the scoring aside and put his playmaking on full display, finishing with 4 points (2/5 FG, 0/3 3PT), 12 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 turnovers, and 4 fouls in 21:44 of playing time as Team USA was given a little bit of a scare against Spain but ultimately came out on top 98-88.

Now, it is safe to say that if you are a fan of Tyrese Haliburton scoring a lot, then this isn’t the game for you, as he was definitely in an unselfish mood the whole game and let his play do the talking. Once again, the offense looked so much more fluid and functional with Haliburton on the floor and he was more than happy to set up his teammates with room service dimes time after time. Haliburton was also showing that he was a nice fit in the lineup with anyone, noticeably making great chemistry with Jalen Brunson (who was the star of the game, scoring 21 points on 9/9 shooting), Austin Reaves, and Cam Johnson, who he seemed to really be getting acquainted with on the court.

However, it is safe to say that Team USA could’ve used some of the more aggressive Haliburton on this day, especially with the offense looking lost most of the time.

Following this performance, you would probably expect a full breakout game by Haliburton where he puts it together on the scoring side and also sets his team up for buckets as well. This would not be the case in the following game.