Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton dominates in Team USA’s win over Italy

Tyrese Haliburton and Team USA win vs. Italy: Second half

After a productive ten or so minutes in the first half, Haliburton was subbed back in with 5:33 remaining in the third quarter and picked up right where he left off. He hit Austin Reaves in the corner on a beautiful drive-and-kick during a fastbreak that followed a Paolo Banchero block.

A couple of minutes later, Haliburton hit his third three-pointer of the game, upping his point total to nine and increasing Team USA’s lead to 39, doubling up Italy’s total.

However, Haliburton’s magnum opus of the game would come at the tail end of the third quarter, as he nabbed a steal, began a wide-open fast break, and threw a between-the-legs alley-oop to Paolo Banchero for a two-handed slam. This got the fans, players, commentators, and everyone on social media hyped.

https://twitter.com/FIBAWC/status/1699061488818999347

The play had every member of Team USA, from the starters to the bench, out of their seats and celebrating with Haliburton and Banchero.

Surprisingly, this was Haliburton’s fifth and final assist of the game, as he focused his attention on scoring during the fourth quarter.

In said fourth quarter, Haliburton hit three three-pointers in just over a minute, increasing his point total to 18, a new career-high for his Team USA career. It was good for second on the team in scoring for the day behind Mikal Bridges’ 24 points.

Some of the shots he hit were remarkable.

Following these heat-check three-pointers, Haliburton was subbed out of the game with 5:26 remaining in the fourth quarter and did not see any action for the rest of the game. However, his night was more than complete, with his mark being felt on both the box score and the highlight reel.