The Indiana Pacers' temporary "big three" of Andrew Nembhard, Pascal Siakam, and Ivica Zubac have proved they can survive without Tyrese Haliburton (see: their 114-101 win against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night), but they're not only going to need to sustain this; they're going to have to turn it up to another level.
On Wednesday, head coach Rick Carlisle said that Haliburton is "progressing" from his hamstring injury that has kept him on the shelf since Oct. 26, but he will miss at least the next 10 days (or five games).
Fortunately for the Pacers, they have figured out how to play together without their star guard. But they have an incredibly tough schedule coming up, and if their star players can't take it to the next gear, then they could find themselves in too deep a hole to dig themselves out of.
Pacers need to survive tough schedule without Tyrese Haliburton
In their next five games (assuming Wednesday's game doesn't count towards the timeline), the Pacers will play the New York Knicks (twice), the Philadelphia 76ers, the Houston Rockets, and the Cleveland Cavaliers. And if they want to play it safe and at least wait until maybe Thanksgiving, Indiana also has the Oklahoma City Thunder on the schedule.
That would be a tough gauntlet for the Pacers, even if Haliburton were playing. But given that he's going to miss most, if not all, of those games, it's going to be an even bigger challenge for Indiana.
Even though the Pacers are 4-8 and are in a tough spot, it's still incredibly early in the season. They still have a talented team, and the rest of the Eastern Conference still looks to be wide open. In order for them to make the playoffs and potentially go on a deep run, though, they're going to need some of their top players to step up.
Pacers need their top stars to step it up these next few games
Indiana's trio of Nembhard, Siakam, and Zubac just had their best game together against the Wizards (who many predicted would at least be a Play-In team this season), and it looks like momentum could be building in their favor on the court.
It's not news that Nembhard can handle the primary point guard role in Haliburton's absence (he did it all of last season and has stepped up once again this year). Siakam is still an incredibly important part of the Pacers' success because of his contributions in every area of the game. And Zubac is finding his footing in Indiana and is building his chemistry with the rest of the roster.
The three can gel together and play winning basketball, but they need to show it in a bigger sample size. They also need to show that they can compete against some of the better teams in the league, especially since every team they're about to face will likely find themselves in the championship race come playoff time.
They need to level up, and they need to do it soon.
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