3 Positives, 1 Negative from Indiana Pacers win vs. Utah Jazz
By Mueez Azfar
Positive: Tyrese Haliburton recovers from slow start
Speaking of players that can go off on any given night, Tyrese Haliburton certainly had an interesting game. Throughout the entire first half, Haliburton was not aggressive with the ball at all, only taking two shots and going into the second half with 0 points.
That is not to say that he didn't contribute at all, as he did have seven assists and three rebounds going into the half, but Haliburton's complete lack of shooting, let alone scoring, caused some Pacers fans to worry a bit about whether he would remain this passive for the rest of the night.
Haliburton would not go scoreless for long however, as he woke up in the third quarter to the tune of 14 points on 5/8 shooting to go along with three more assists, giving him his sixth double double of the season, good for third in the NBA.
Haliburton's third-quarter explosion further proves my statement from the last point that anyone on this Pacers team is liable to have a fantastic night, no matter how poorly they start or how many mouths need to be fed.
Perhaps Haliburton's passiveness was a reason the game was relatively close going into the third quarter, perhaps not. All I know is this: When Haliburton got his scoring back on track, the team kicked into a new gear that they do not usually enter and rode that momentum to a huge fourth quarter to capture the win for good.