The Indiana Pacers need Tyrese Haliburton to fix his shot
By Ryan Stano
Earlier in the season, the Indiana Pacers were the darlings of the NBA. Their run through the In-Season Tournament showed the rest of the league how good they can be. Tyrese Haliburton was the catalyst of that run with his amazing passing and shooting.
Haliburton was leading the league's most prolific offense. He made it the most prolific offense because he was always looking to get his teammates involved. He was able to do that most effectively when he had the three-point shot as a weapon.
Many times before he got hurt, Haliburton could take step-back threes over good defenders and drain them with regularity. His range extended five feet beyond the three-point at times too. His shot opened up his drives to the lane, which in turn opened up drive and kick opportunities.
In order for the Indiana Pacers to win, Tyrese Haliburton must fix his shot.
Since the All-Star break, the Pacers have vacillated between wins and losses. Every game, there seems to be a different reason as to why they aren't able to win. One thing has been consistent in that time though; Haliburton's three-point shot has been poor.
In the loss against Minnesota on Thursday, he made just two of his seven threes. Prior to that, he was just 3-10, which has actually been one of his better three-point shooting performances since the break. So far in March, he's shooting just 17% from deep and 39% overall. That's not going to cut it.
The Pacers currently sit in the 8th spot in the East. That would put them in a play-in game and in danger of facing Boston in a first-round series. Neither of those outcomes is desirable. They need to put together some wins to climb up to at least 6th, which they sit two games back of.
Indiana has a shot to gain an entire game toward that spot because they take on the team that currently occupies that 6th spot on Sunday. If they are able to beat Orlando, they will move closer to being able to secure that spot at the end of the season.
Next. Next story. 3 most important Pacers players for the rest of the season. dark
Unless Haliburton's three-point shot gets fixed, the Pacers could get bounced out of a play-in game.