Unsung heroes help Pacers maintain consistency through star point guard's struggles
The Pacers have been dealing with many different issues recently and the biggest has been the slow stretch for the star.
Tyrese Haliburton has been on the worst slump of his basketball career which has him at 15.4 points per game, 9.8 assists per game, and 4.8 rebounds in the last 10 games, which have brought all his season averages down. During the loss vs the Pelicans on March 2, Haliburton had a zero-point, three rebound, three assist game, which was his worst career performance in his four seasons.
During this stretch, the Pacers were 5-5 and that is due to some very close wins and losses, splitting games with the Pelicans, beating the Mavericks twice, and losing to the Spurs and the Cavaliers who were down three starters.
Even with Haliburton struggling and playing on his hamstring injury, players like Pascal Siakam, T.J. McConnell, and Myles Turner have all been picking up some of the slack and are having a great stretch. The main weapon being Siakam who has had five double-doubles in the last ten games has been averaging 19.6 points along with 8.8 rebounds with an efficient 52% shooting.
Siakam is the main piece in the starting lineup and is now the first off the court to make sure he gets his rest and is back in. Helping the second unit throughout the end of quarters has been a massive help to the bench unit too.
The bench is saving the Indiana Pacers
McConnell is known as the ball of energy in the second unit and has been dominating in the paint. In the last ten games, McConnell is averaging 13 points per game and is third in the bench unit in scoring for the season only behind Jalen Smith and Obi Toppin but is first off of the bench in the last ten. His consistency is what puts him over with both the team and the fans.
Turner is also stepping up to the plate in the scoring category and has been a menace in the paint with his 2.2 blocks per game in his last ten games. Turner is also second all-time in blocks for the Pacers, only four behind Jermaine O'Neal. While his rebounding isn't where the team would hope it to be for being the starting center, he makes up for it with his off-ball game and his interior defense.
Other players putting in work include Aaron Nesmith, Ben Sheppard, and Andrew Nembhard. Sheppard as a rookie looks like a six-year vet and has inserted himself nicely into the rotation for the injured Bennedict Mathurin. He has had some amazing moments on defense, such as a game-winning stop against Toronto Raptors star R.J. Barrett. Nesmith has been a good three-and-D player all season and Nembhard has been a good complimentary ball-handler to Haliburton.
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Rick Carlisle and the Pacers will be looking to gain some momentum before the playoffs and hope to finish between the fourth and sixth seeds to avoid the Play-in. Pacers currently sit at 39-31 which is good for sixth in the East and are a half-game above the 76ers and the Heat.