Tyrese Haliburton has been on the worst crisis of his basketball career which puts him at 15.4 points per game, 9.8 assists per game and 4.8 rebounds over the last 10 games, which brought down all of his season averages. In the loss to the Pelicans on March 2, Haliburton had a game with zero points, three rebounds and three assists, which was his worst career performance in his four seasons.
During this stretch, the Pacers were 5-5 and that was due to some very close wins and losses, splitting games with the Pelicans, beating the Mavericks twice and losing to the Spurs and Cavaliers who three starters were missing.
Even with Haliburton struggling and playing through his hamstring injury, players like Pascal Siakam, TJ McConnell and Myles Turner have all picked up some of the slack and are having a good stretch. The main weapon being Siakam, who has five double-doubles in the last ten games, averaging 19.6 points and 8.8 rebounds on 52% efficient shooting.
Siakam is the main piece of the starting lineup and is now the first off the field to ensure he is rested and back. Helping the second unit throughout the late quarters was also a huge help to the bench unit.
McConnell is known as the ball of energy in the second unit and dominated in the paint. Over the last ten games, McConnell has averaged 13 points per game and is third off the bench in scoring on the season only behind Jalen Smith and Obi Toppin, but is first off the bench in the last ten games. His consistency is what endears him to both the team and the fans.
Turner is also stepping up in the scoring category and has been a threat in the paint with his 2.2 blocks per game over his last ten games. Turner is also second all-time in blocks for the Pacers, just four behind Jermaine O’Neal. Although his rebounding isn’t where the team hoped it would be as a starting center, he makes up for it with his off-ball play and interior defense.
Other players working include Aaron Nesmith, Ben Sheppard and Andrew Nembhard. Sheppard, as a rookie, looks like a six-year veteran and has slotted well into injured Bennedict Mathurin’s rotation. He had some incredible moments on defense, like a game-winning save against Toronto Raptors star RJ Barrett. Nesmith has been a good three and D player all season and Nembhard has been a good complementary ball handler to Haliburton.
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Rick Carlisle and the Pacers will look to build momentum heading into the playoffs and hope to finish between the fourth and sixth seeds to avoid the Play-in. The Pacers are currently 39-31, good for sixth place in the East and are a half-game above the 76ers and Heat.
