'I live for these moments': Tyrese Haliburton battles for triple-double, game-winner
INDIANAPOLIS -- Myles Turner stood at attention at halfcourt of Gainbridge Fieldhouse, raised his right hand to the white headband on his forehead, then executed the most exaggerated, dramatic salute he could to the Pacers' franchise player to express just how much he appreciated him in the immediate moments after the Pacers held on to beat the Bucks 121-118 in Game 3 of their NBA Eastern Conference playoff series.
The first three playoff games of Tyrese Halburton's NBA career have been trying and occasionally brutal. He's been hounded by Bucks guard and world-class pest Patrick Beverley, blitzed and double-teamed just about every time he's had a ball screen and faced with as many bodies as possible to try to deter him from driving the basketball.
Offense has been a grind for Haliburton since his hamstring strain on Jan. 8 and particularly since the All-Star break, but playoff basketball has decreased his comfort level even further. The two-time All-Star averaged 20.1 points per game to go with an NBA-leading 10.9 assists. In three postseason games, he's averaging 12.0 assists, but just 13.0 points per game on 41.0% shooting, including 22.7% shooting from 3-point range.
Friday night was particularly infuriating. In his first home playoff game and the Pacers' first home playoff game since 2019, the friendly confines of Gainbridge Fieldhouse did his jump shot no favors. He missed his first five 3-point attempts before he finally made one with 6:01 to go in the fourth quarter, then proceeded to miss the next five after that.
But Haliburton persevered, stayed aggressive off the bounce, moved the ball, took the shots that were there and even got after it on the boards on both ends of the floor. And in the end he had a playoff triple-double with 18 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds, and his floater-and-1 with 1.4 seconds to go in overtime gave the Pacers the win and a 2-1 lead in the series heading into Sunday's Game 4. He was 8 of 22 from the floor, 1 of 12 from 3, but the Pacers needed every point he scored as they blew a 19-point first half lead but still found a way to hang on.
Haliburton seemed physically and emotionally drained when it was over, but was drinking in the catharsis after Bucks wing Khris Middleton missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, hollering with fans and powerfully embracing teammates. That's when Turner saluted.
"It's easy to check out of a game," Turner said. "I don't care if it's the playoffs. If you're missing shots and you don't feel involved, that's when things start to go bad. He never once gave into that. That's really what the salute was for. He just stayed the course."
Haliburton took a different course than he did earlier in the series. In Game 1, he took just seven shots and made four, scoring just nine points to go with just eight assists as he tried to navigate a Bucks defensive game plan that seemed only designed to take the ball out of his hand. After watching film he realized he needed to be more aggressive and posted 12 points on 4 of 10 shooting as well as 12 assists. He didn't force shots, but he made himself more of a problem and that allowed him to make passes for easy buckets whenever he drew two bodies to him.
In Game 3, his approach was complicated by the fact that neither he nor anyone else made outside shots with much consistency. The Pacers shot 42.9% from the field and made just 13 of 49 3-point attempts as the Bucks made it difficult for the Pacers to get in the paint where they've been so effective all year. The Pacers got just 35 attempts there, making 22, for 44 points in the paint.
But in those missed shots, Haliburton saw an opportunity. As a point guard, his assignment is usually to get back on defense when the Pacers miss a shot to limit opposing transition opportunities, but he does have freedom to make a break on an offensive rebound. On Friday he saw several of those. He grabbed five offensive rebounds, two more than he had in any game in the regular season.
Just before halftime, Haliburton was on the left wing when guard Andrew Nembhard missed a 3 and he noticed that neither of the Bucks in the lane were paying attention to him, so he whipped around both of them, leaped in the air and threw down an emphatic dunk to give the Pacers a 12-point lead at the break.
"It was just the feel of the game and the energy within the crowd," Haliburton said. "I felt like we just had a lot of energy especially in the first half. Shots weren't falling so I knew I had to impact the game in a different way. Today that was just rebounding. I just want to put my imprint on the game in any way I can."
Haliburton's crashing seemed to inspire the Pacers as a whole, They grabbed 19 offensive rebounds -- including five on one overtime possession -- and turned them into 32 second-chance points.
"They gave him a lane to crash the basket," forward Aaron Nesmith said. "We needed those buckets. I made a joke sitting on the bench, saying I've never seen him crash this much either. He got a triple-double tonight, and it's because of those crashes, because of that hard play. You know when your best players are playing hard, it feeds into the whole team. We need that from him."
What's impressed Turner, as well as Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, is how Haliburton has found ways to impact the game beyond what he'd been doing early in the year, and how he's turned weaknesses into strengths.
"I've never seen him crash the glass like this ever," Turner said. "He got up and had a couple crazy dunks. I think he understands what time of year this is. Even defensively, he's really moving, he's really active, he's using his length. He's doing all the things, buying in at the right time."
Defense -- in particular on-ball defense -- has never been Haliburton's strong suit. That's one of the reasons the Pacers generally put Nembhard and small forward Aaron Nesmith on the toughest defensive assignments and generally find Haliburton the easiest. But he has exceptional situational awareness, which helps him get his hands in passing lanes and even helps him block shots. He's continued to use those skills and also increased his level of force in his assignments and when he's been employed in switches or double teams.
"As the series has progressed, his defense and tenacity have ramped up," Carlisle said. "His awareness for the little things involved in playoff basketball have become keener."
But he also maintained awareness that when the game is on the line -- no matter how many shots he's missed -- it's his job to make something happen. So after Milwaukee's Khris Middleton, who went off for 42 points, drilled a twisting 3-pointer to send the game into overtime and then banked one in to tie the game with 6.7 seconds to go in the extra period, Haliburton knew it was his time to find a way to score.
The Pacers called timeout to advance the ball into the end they were shooting on and Haliburton started the sideline out-of-bounds play under the bucket, but he sprinted straight into the backcourt and Nembhard threw him the ball there where he could get some downhill momentum. All-Star forward Pascal Siakam came up near the center court logo to set a screen, but Haliburton didn't need it. He crossed over Beverley twice to get him off balance, found clear space right around the free throw line and pulled up for a right-handed floater. He swished that, and drew contact from Beverley for his sixth foul. Haliburton made the free throw to put the Pacers up by three, and Middleton missed a final attempt.
"I just knew I was shooting it, no matter what," Haliburton said. "I didn't know what I was going to get to. It was kind of just based on feel out there. Khris pushed Pascal up to tell Patrick to go under. I saw Patrick just kinda turn his head so I rejected (the screen) and that opened everything up across the middle. I finally made a shot. I couldn't buy a bucket today. I was glad that one went in."
In a sense, Haliburton had called him shot. Television cameras caught him in the huddle during the timeout hollerying, "Let's win this game now." And he did, clearly not concerned with all the shots he'd missed before.
"I live for these moments," Haliburton said. "That's why I'm here. They have a lot of trust in me, this organization does. I just thought with six seconds left that was enough time for me to get a good look. And it happened."
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Tyrese Haliburton posts game-winner, triple-double in Game 3
