After falling to the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night by way of a Tyrese Maxey 50-point Master Class, the Indiana Pacers got their revenge on Tuesday.
They took on the 76ers for the second game in a row, but this time around, it was the other Tyrese, Tyrese Haliburton, who had the last laugh as he led the Pacers to a 132-126 win over the 76ers.
Indiana managed to snap the 76ers’ eight-game win streak that lasted from their Opening Night loss to the Milwaukee Bucks up to this point. It was perhaps the Pacers’ best win of the season, as they established themselves as a true force in the Eastern Conference.
Let’s take a look at two studs and one dud from the game.
Stud - Tyrese Haliburton
Again, Tyrese Haliburton was the one who led the Pacers to the win, and he was by far the best player on Indiana, but at this point, shouldn’t that be expected?
Obviously, Haliburton deserves all the credit in the world for his performance against the 76ers. He put up 33 points, seven rebounds, 15 assists, two steals, and a block while shooting 11-of-18 from the field and 7-of-12 from beyond the arc.
But that’s the way he’s been playing all year. The numbers were obviously up in this game, but Haliburton has been on a tear all season. He’s always going to be a stud.
Without Haliburton, the Pacers aren’t the same team, and that definitely was the case in this game, because he was absolutely phenomenal.
Dud - Benedict Mathurin (But really Buddy Hield)
This is a weird one.
For the second game in a row, Bennedict Mathurin failed to make a significant impact on the game, and this isn’t the first times this has happened this season.
Before his two duds against the Philadelphia 76ers, Mathurin was on a heater, putting up some solid performances, but before that, he was struggling as he is now.
On Tuesday against the 76ers, Mathurin finished the game with eight points and two turnovers on 3-of-8 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting from deep. But most important to note is the fact that he only played 15:53.
Fans on Twitter were begging head coach Rick Carlisle to put Mathurin back in the game over Buddy Hield, who shot 1-of-5 from the field and 0-of-3 from deep against Philly but played 28:58.
Hield is the one who should be on the duds list, as the ball stuck to his hands just a bit too much, and as a whole, he just didn’t have a great game.
But because of the inconsistency of Mathurin’s non-existence in this game and prior games, he lands here for the simple goal of talking about how weird his season has been, highlighted by Tuesday against the 76ers.
Stud - Obi Toppin
Obi Toppin had a solid game in the Indiana Pacers’ loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday, but in this one, he kicked things up a notch, helping Tyrese Haliburton lead the charge.
The Pacers play at one of the fastest paces in the league, and with Toppin’s skillset, that’s perfect. Against the 76ers, he showed off exactly why that’s the case.
With how fast the Pacers play, Toppin’s crazy athleticism and rim-running abilities were put on full display on Tuesday night, and he tore the 76ers to shreds.
Toppin finished the game against Philly with 27 points, six rebounds, one assist, and one block while shooting an impressive 12-of-15 from the field and 1-of-3 from deep, meaning he shot 11-of-12 on two-point shots.
Whether it was an alley-oop from Haliburton or a sweet give-and-go with Jalen Smith on a drive, Toppin was getting to the hoop at will, dominating the 76ers’ defense.
These are the games when fans are reminded why the Pacers traded for Toppin in the first place. His ability to cut on a dime and get up for monster dunks makes their offense that much scarier.
Having him as a vertical lob threat next to Haliburton might be one of the most deadly offensive combinations in the league, especially when they’re both dominating like they were on Tuesday night.