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

The Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton and Team USA have just completed their fifth and final exhibition game for Team USA, thus concluding the FIBA World Cup pre-tournament exhibition games. These games are more or less a series of practice exhibition games between countries to feel each other out before the tournament starts for real. This game in particular was quite exciting as Team USA had to fight back from as much as a 16-point third-quarter deficit to win 99-91 ultimately. This comeback was also sparked by Tyrese Haliburton himself as we will see in the review of the final game.

Tyrese Haliburton competed in five exhibition games with Team USA and certainly showed his skills on the world stage ahead of the World Cup. It’s very important to note that these exhibition games are basically friendly scrimmages and coaches and players are using these scrimmages to get used to each other and think of certain gameplans and ways to get wins during the actual tournament. This also includes lineup tinkering, which is why Tyrese not starting a single game during these games is not a big deal, as Steve Kerr ran the same lineup of Jalen Brunson, Anthony Edwards, Mikal Bridges, Brandon Ingram, and Jaren Jackson Jr. for all five games.

With that being said, we have five games to look over and give our thoughts on, so let’s get into the action!

Game 1 vs Puerto Rico

Tyrese and Team USA’s first exhibition game was on August 7 against Puerto Rico. This was Haliburton’s first televised game since March 25th’s matchup with the Atlanta Hawks, as he missed the final 7 games of the 2022-23 season due to ankle issues. Haliburton was selected to represent the USA in the FIBA World Cup and once his injury had healed, he joined his teammates for the first game against the Puerto Rican team.

Haliburton’s first half was pretty quiet, as he was subbed in late in the first quarter, and recorded four assists and nothing much else in the first half before getting subbed out after playing roughly eight minutes in the half.

The second half, however, was when he would do his best work, checking in with 4 minutes left in the third quarter and going to work shortly thereafter, getting three assists, increasing his total to 7 in the game. Haliburton would not go scoreless thankfully, as he would hit a layup early in the 4th quarter for his first points in a Team USA uniform.

Shortly after, Tyrese would have his finest play on the night, hitting Cam Johnson for an alley-oop after starting a fast break. Keep Cam Johnson’s name in mind, as you will hear about him again.

Of course, what would a Tyrese Haliburton game be without at least one no-look pass? Here’s a fantastic one to Jaren Jackson Jr. for the open dunk under the basket.

Tyrese Haliburton would score his seventh and final points of the game on a dunk from Austin Reaves and get up to 12 assists with a pass to Walker Kessler for a garbage time bucket.

Overall, Tyrese Haliburton would finish the night with 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 with a 117-74 victory. Haliburton’s 11 assists were only 3 less than Puerto Rico’s whole team, who logged 14 assists and Team USA’s looked so much more connected and fluid with him on the floor as opposed to him on the bench. This performance, although not spectacular, drew some eyes from fans as Tyrese’s passing masterclass was certainly one to write home about.

Game 2 vs Slovenia

Five days after an impressive up an impressive performance in the opener against Puerto Rico, Tyrese Haliburton and Team USA were back on the floor for their second game against Slovenia. This was also the first game of a back-to-back, the only one of the exhibition games where they would also play Spain the next night, more on that game in a bit. This was also a bit of a break for Team USA, as Slovenia was missing Luka Doncic, who did not participate in this game but is participating in the World Cup regardless.

Similar to the first game, and a constant for most of his games, Tyrese Haliburton logged a pretty quiet first half. However, that is not to say he didn’t do anything of note, far from it. Haliburton was subbed in a bit earlier this time, this time a little over six minutes into the first quarter, and logged an assist 10 seconds later. His finest moment of the first half came from a rebound and full-court touchdown pass, all with the same hand, to Austin Reaves for an open layup at the end of the first quarter.

Tyrese would only score once in the first half but he would go on a bit of a scoring run in the second half, scoring in a variety of different ways, from up-and-unders, to threes, to and-1 finishes.

Once again, despite a slow start, Tyrese Haliburton would make his mark felt on the game and the stat sheet, putting up 10 points (4/8 FG, 1/4 3PT 1/1 FT), 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, and only 1 turnover in 19:36 of playing time. Team USA would have no difficulty in this game either, cruising to a 92-62 victory over Slovenia.

Tyrese once again made his teammates look very comfortable on the floor leading the charge and would get a lot of easy buckets himself with his creation ability. It was also very interesting seeing him share the floor with fellow point guard Jalen Brunson and swingmen Anthony Edwards and Austin Reaves, making for some very fun backcourt combinations.

Tyrese’s basketball IQ was also on full display here, with his ability to see plays before they happen shining on this particular night, as demonstrated in this hockey assist to Austin Reaves.

However, this game was the first that I, and many others noticed Haliburton’s excessive passiveness with the ball, as he is sometimes too willing to pass the ball and should probably take it in for himself. Now, you will not hear me say a word about Tyrese Haliburton’s passing, as he is a very unselfish player, and his teammates love him for it, but he is also a very good scorer, and sometimes it feels like he is neglecting that part of the game to the detriment of himself.

Either way, if I was expecting a huge scoring output from Haliburton, I was not going to get what I wanted the next game.

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.

Game 4 vs Greece

Fair warning, this is Tyrese Haliburton’s quietest performance of all five exhibition games.

Following a back-to-back against Slovenia and Spain, the latter of which gave them a big test in the form of their first remotely close game, Team USA returned to action after four games of rest to face a Giannis-less Greece team. Tyrese was seen to be in good spirits prior to the game and was spotted goofing around prior in Abu Dhabi, where the game was taking place.

That being said, he didn’t have the greatest performance out there.

Tyrese did get off to a quick (if not hot) start, as he got his first assist 15 seconds after checking in, to Cam Johnson yet again.

He would also showcase some scoring as well, hitting a pretty layup off a fake and jab step for his first points of the game.

Tyrese would also have a bit of a highlight play in the first half, as he threw another assist, this time to Paolo Banchero after skillfully faking out 2 Greek defenders, leading to Banchero’s dunk, which left the commentators in awe.

However, after a first half where he had 2 points and 4 assists, Haliburton wouldn’t do much more for the rest of the game.

The rest of Haliburton’s contributions in the game consisted of 2 steals, a block, a free throw, 2 turnovers, and perhaps his finest scoring play of the game, which was a pull-up three after shaking the defender loose with a behind-the-back move.

This would be a relatively disappointing game for Tyrese Haliburton, as he finished with 6 points (2/4 FG, 1/3 3PT, 1/1 FT), 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 fouls, and a surprising 4 turnovers in about 19 minutes of action. However, Team USA would still cruise to an easy 108-86 win behind 21 points from Anthony Edwards.

Now, while Tyrese only logged 6 points, it was not without effort or wanting the ball, as he was spotted in some plays begging and jumping to get the ball as his teammates ignored him.

https://twitter.com/TheBoxAndOne_/status/1692584296878416313

There isn’t much more to say about this game, as Tyrese still made the offense better when he was on the floor, and even showed some defensive potential with the 2 steals and a block. All in all, despite a mediocre performance, Haliburton still received ‘super duper’ praise following the game.

Game 5 vs Germany

Tyrese Haliburton would undoubtedly save the best for last, as Team USA faced Germany, a team loaded with current and former NBA players as well as Tyrese’s Pacers teammate Daniel Theis.

Now, following a relatively poor performance against Greece, you would think Tyrese Haliburton would be a bit more aggressive in this game, maybe even going on the offensive in the first half, which is usually quiet for him. This would not be the case, as Tyrese Haliburton would wait quite a bit after checking in to make a contribution, throwing a beautiful jump pass to Mikal Bridges for the finish.

However, the only other contribution he would have in this game would be a nice no-look pass to Paolo Banchero for the dunk.

https://twitter.com/usabasketball/status/1693298328547828221

Despite this slow first half, Tyrese would more or less help take over the game for USA in the second half.

A few minutes after checking in, Tyrese would hit a couple of three-pointers, including this deep one as he tried to bring Team USA back into the game.

Tyrese would just be getting started, however, as he hit this nasty hesitation and layup to cut the lead to 8.

Soon after, Tyrese would hit a nasty hesitation and layup to cut the lead to 8.

A minute later, with Team USA having gone on a 5-1 run since this layup, Haliburton would hit a beautiful stepback 3 to bring Team USA within 3 after being down by as much as 16 3 minutes prior, marking his 11th point in less than 3 minutes.

Haliburton would have a very quiet first 5 minutes of the fourth quarter before getting subbed out, which insinuated that his work was done, since Steve Kerr wouldn’t usually bring him back in at this point.

However, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

He would check Haliburton back into the game with 3:10 left and both teams having been tied at 86 for 2 minutes, going scoreless for multiple possessions. Haliburton would change this however, as less than a minute after checking in and with both teams still knotted up at 86, Haliburton would grab a rebound and hit Mikal Bridges for the three that put Team USA up for the rest of the game.

To conclude his performance, Haliburton would get a steal and fastbreak dunk and hit 2 free throws to get his point total to 16 and seal the game, ultimately shutting down Germany’s hopes for an upset win.

After only scoring 1 point in the first quarter off a technical free throw and following his quietest performance of the exhibitions, Tyrese Haliburton would have 16 points (5/7 FG, 3/4 3PT, 3/3 FT), 3 assists, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 1 turnover, and 2 fouls in about 21 minutes of action as Team USA earned a hard-fought 99-91 victory against Germany, taking the game away in the fourth quarter, with the lead-taking three-pointer coming off an assist from Haliburton himself to Mikal Bridges. Despite this fantastic performance, however, Tyrese Haliburton was not the story of the game as Anthony Edwards exploded for 34 points and Austin Reaves also had 16 points in only 18 minutes, including this dunk at the very end of the game that had Haliburton jumping out of the gym, further indicative of the chemistry the second unit is building for the tournament.

Unlike the previous couple of games, this was a 100% aggressive Tyrese Haliburton that was looking to score and nothing else, with his 3 assists being his lowest total of the 5 exhibition games, including the previous performance against Greece. His efficiency was also off the charts as he shot 93% from the field, and looked like he couldn’t miss at points, reminiscent of some points during the Pacers’ season where he took over games with his scoring.

I do have to admit, after the previous 2 performances where Haliburton looked uninterested in scoring and his teammates were as uninterested in getting the ball to him, I had a little bit of fear for how the games were going to go for him, scoring-wise. It is very safe to say that those fears have been taken care of and I now have the utmost confidence in Tyrese Haliburton to make things work, no matter what the situation calls for.

Overall, Tyrese Haliburton‘s performance tonight definitely drew the eyes of everyone and reminded the people just who he is when he wants to score and be aggressive. I’m sure Steve Kerr, Erik Spoelstra, and Ty Lue were watching his performance intently and will give him some more minutes in time for the first tournament game against New Zealand.

Final Thoughts and Takeaways

When it was all said and done, Tyrese Haliburton’s averages for the 5 FIFA World Cup Exhibition games would be the following:

8.6 PPG (59% FG, 37.5% 3PT, 100% FT), 7.4 APG, 3 RPG, 1 SPG, 0.2 BPG, 1.2 TOV, and 1.6 FPG in about 20 minutes per game

As you can see, some very interesting numbers across the board, but they get even more interesting when you look at the numbers.

For one, Tyrese was averaging 10 assists per game after 3 games, before his game 4 disappointment and game 5 scoring outburst. 2 separate games of 12 assists also helped his average from dipping down too much after those final 2 games for a respective 7.4 average, the highest on Team USA by quite a bit.

In addition to the assist numbers, the points average also needs some context. Leading up to the 16-point performance vs Germany, Tyrese was only averaging 6.7 points per game through those 4 games, with the final performance raising his points average by 2 whole points. Prior to this game, there were doubts by some people, myself included that Tyrese Haliburton have a breakthrough scoring performance and really carry the offensive load for a while. Those doubts were thankfully silenced against Germany and Tyrese not only upped his scoring average but made fans excited to see what he could do in the tournament.

One final thing to note is the efficiency. 59% from the field and 37.5% from behind the line are great numbers on paper but they need more context. The most notable thing to bring up is that Haliburton’s three-point shooting was very streaky leading up to the Germany game. Prior to this game, Haliburton was shooting 3/12 from behind the line which equates to 25%. In said Germany game, he hit 3 of 4 threes, which upped his stats to 6/16, which led to the aforementioned 37.5% clip. What this tells us, is that Tyrese’s scoring ability and efficiency were very much unremarkable until his explosion on Sunday against Germany. On one hand, this is a problem, as one performance carrying the load of his averages might be a problem, but on the other hand, there is a silver lining, as Haliburton’s breakout performance coming in the final game perhaps means that we could see more of this during the tournament. Perhaps Team USA’s coaching staff saw this performance as an indication that Haliburton needs the ball in his hands more, or perhaps needs to start in place of Brunson, which is slowly becoming a consensus agreement among fans.

Personally, I have been very vocal in my support of Haliburton replacing Brunson in the starting lineup, or at the very least, being inserted into the lineup alongside Brunson, who is better suited to play shooting guard in a lineup like this. With Team USA’s current lineup being so isolation-heavy (Edwards, Brunson, Ingram), It would make a huge difference for the better if one player was moved to the bench in favor of a playmaker to initiate the offense and look for others. Perhaps this is why a lineup involving some combination of Haliburton, Edwards, Austin Reaves, and Cam Johnson works so well, as this lineup has given Team USA the most success so far. It is so evident, in fact, that some have even called out Steve Kerr for needlessly benching Haliburton during the fourth quarter or different stretches of the game.

https://twitter.com/MGRADS/status/1693315782728704039

Either way, if there is a change that needed to be made, I am confident that Team USA’s coaching staff will make it happen. Steve Kerr, Erik Spoelstra, and Ty Lue are three of the best coaches the NBA has to offer and they did not earn 7 times among them for their inability to make adjustments. If anything, I am excited at how they will use Haliburton going forward in the tournament, as they definitely are aware of his positive effect on the USA offense, and at some point, his ability becomes undeniable and a change might have to be made, because 9 times out of 10, that Germany game goes the other way and Haliburton won’t be there to pick up the pieces in time.

Overall, Tyrese Haliburton’s performance in the limited time he saw on the floor for Team USA had some ups, some downs, and some very interesting moments. One thing is for sure though, they did nothing but make me excited for the FIBA World Cup starting and Team USA perhaps making a run for the gold with this young team of budding superstars.

The FIBA World Cup officially starts on Friday, August 25 with Finland vs Australia, however, Team USA’s first official FIBA World Cup game is on Saturday, August 26, at 8:40 PM Eastern Time against New Zealand.

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