The Indiana Pacers are back on a roll, and on Saturday night, they picked up their third win in a row, taking down the New York Knicks by a score of 140-126.
While their play on the defensive end still leaves much to be desired, as evidenced by New York’s 126 points without the recently traded RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, they’re back to putting up great numbers on offense.
Donte DiVincenzo ended up scoring a game-high 38 points, absolutely torching the Pacers, but Tyrese Haliburton also set a new standard for himself.
Let’s take a look at the two studs and one dud from the Pacers’ win over the Knicks on Saturday.
Stud - Myles Turner
Yet another game in which Myles Turner stepped up in a big way on the offensive side of the ball. After a slew of rough performances, Turner has gotten back into the flow of things.
The New York Knicks are down Mitchell Robinson and Jericho Sims, leaving them with Isaiah Hartenstein and Taj Gibson holding down the fort in the middle. Regardless, Turner was able to space them out.
Turner finished the game with a team-high 28 points to go along with eight rebounds and two assists while shooting 10-of-17 from the field and 6-of-8 from behind the three-point line.
With Turner knocking down his threes, the Pacers are very tough to guard on offense. (Even more so than they are in general, as one of the best offenses in basketball.) Turner is fully back in form.
Dud - TJ McConnell
TJ McConnell played 12:17 in the Indiana Pacers game against the New York Knicks, and he was a team-low -5 on the night. That is the only reason he is the dud from this game.
In reality, this was a game where almost everybody on the roster played well. The only reason McConnell lands in this spot by default is because he didn’t do too much… because he didn’t have to.
McConnell ended the game with five points and three assists while shooting 2-of-3 from the floor and 1-of-1 from the free-throw line.
But instead of diving any deeper into McConnell’s performance (since there’s not much to break down), let’s add a third dud to this list and talk about him briefly - Aaron Nesmith.
Since being inserted into the starting lineup, Nesmith has been nothing short of great for the Pacers, providing them with hustle defense and knockdown shooting when they need it most.
Against the Knicks, Nesmith finished the night with 25 points, one rebound, two assists, and one steal while shooting 8-of-13 from the floor and 7-of-11 from beyond the three-point arc.
Nesmith’s seven threes were the most of his career. It was just the second time a Pacers player other than Tyrese Haliburton has nailed at least seven threes in a game this season. (The other was Buddy Hield.)
Stud - Tyrese Haliburton
Another game, another ridiculous performance for Tyrese Haliburton. After a tough stretch of performances, Haliburton is back to the point where he should have a permanent residence on the studs list.
Early on in the season, Haliburton was putting up some crazy scoring performances, but now, he’s doing it all in the passing game - even more so than usual.
In the Indiana Pacers’ last win over the Chicago Bulls, Haliburton dropped an impressive 20 assists, but against the New York Knicks on Saturday night, he outdid himself.
Haliburton ended the night with 22 points, five rebounds, 23 assists, two steals, and one block while shooting 8-of-17 from the field and 2-of-10 from behind the three-point line.
There are few players in the league of capable of putting up at least 20 assists, and Haliburton may be the only one who is able to do it for two nights in a row.
Having a guy like Haliburton to lead the way gives the Pacers a constant advantage on the offensive end, but at the same time, they should be exploring ways to potentially take some of the pressure off of him.
With the trade deadline inching closer and closer, expect the Pacers to stay active because Haliburton is ready and good enough to help them compete right now.