Tyrese Haliburton posts 25 points and 13 assists as Pacers handle Pistons

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Pacers built a 31-point first half lead and took their foot off the gas in the second half, but still took a 129-115 win over the last-place Pistons at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Thursday night.

The Pacers improved to 32-25 and maintain sixth place in the Eastern Conference. The Pistons fell to 8-47 and continue to hold the worst record in the NBA.

Here are four observations.

Tyrese Haliburton kept cooking

After his 32-point All-Star Game performance on Sunday in which he hit his first five 3-pointers and finished 10 of 14 from beyond the arc, Tyrese Haliburton returned to the Gainbridge Fieldhouse floor having not cooled off at all. He hit his first three 3-pointers and kept rolling from there. He threw down fast-break dunks in consecutive second-quarter possessions including a 180 reverse and he finished the first half with 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting, including 3 of 5 from 3.

He added nine in the second half to finish with 25 points on 10 of 18 shooting including 4 of 10 from 3-point range to go with 13 assists. He played 33 minutes and 35 seconds and said he was told after the game that he will not be dealing with a minutes restriction going forward as he recovers from a strained right hamstring suffered on Jan. 8.

"There will probably be some soreness tomorrow," Haliburton said. "There's been soreness throughout, but today is the best I've felt by far, the best I've moved."

Said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle: "Ty went through a tough five or six weeks with the initial injury, the buildup back to play and him playing. He's been through a lot. Was doing everything during All-Star weekend, to see him have two dunks and really feel good about it is great to see."

T.J. McConnell, Pacers' second unit overwhelm Pistons' bench

Though they have the worst record in the NBA, the Pistons do have some impressive top-line talent. They start four lottery picks in Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren, and Cunningham, Ivey and Thompson were all top five picks. And their fifth starter, Simone Fontecchio, proved he had some value in Utah.

The Pistons are as bad as they are in large part because they lack depth, and the Pacers' second unit took full advantage of that fact.

The Pacers were down a man themselves with forward Aaron Nesmith out with a right ankle sprain. Bennedict Mathurin moved up to the starting lineup which meant the bench was missing its leading scorer. The Pacers' bench outscored Detroit's 48-31 anyway. The Pistons had no answer for backup point guard T.J. McConnell, who scored 16 points on 7 of 11 shooting and added some rare shooting distance to his game as he was 2 of 2 from beyond the arc. He also dished out five assists, grabbed six rebounds and two steals and turned the ball over just once.

"He's a guy that is a constant source of energy and did great things throughout the entire game," Carlisle said. "Hats off to him."

Center Isaiah Jackson scored 13 points off the bench, playing the second-string role in place of Jalen Smith, who has been dealing with back spasms. Carlisle said before the game that Smith was available, but said after the game that he was only available in an emergency. Forward Obi Toppin added nine points and was +21 when he was in the game. Guard Ben Sheppard scored seven points and wing Doug McDermott hit a 3-pointer in his first game back in Gainbridge Fieldhouse since he was acquired from the Spurs in a trade at the deadline.

Pacers lock down on defense in first half, ease up in second half

Through the first two quarters Thursday night, the Pacers were on track for one of their best defensive performances in the season. Holding the Pistons down isn't necessarily a major feat, but all the same, they handled the first two quarters as if they were taking the matchup with the NBA's worst team seriously.

The Pistons scored just 43 first-half points on 18 of 45 shooting, making just 3 of 14 3-pointers and 4 of 6 free throws to post a brutal efficiency figure of 0.79 points per possession. Guard Andrew Nembhard was making Cade Cunningham's life difficult and wing Bennedict Mathurin was doing the same on Jaden Ivey. The Pistons had just 16 first-half points in the paint and the Pacers' bench outscored Detroit's 27-7.

But the Pacers' second half defensive effort was a clear example of taking their foot off the pedal. In the third quarter alone, the Pistons scored 45 points, more than they had in the entire first half, on 18 of 27 shooting including 6 of 8 from 3-point range for 1.52 points per possession. In the fourth, they scored 27 points, and they trimmed what had been a 31-point lead for the Pacers in the first half down to as few as 13. Detroit shot 29 of 44 from the floor (65.9%) and 9 of 16 from 3-point range in the second half and outscored the Pacers 72-57 after the break.

The Pacers still held on, but it was a concerning performance.

"I thought our first half was one of the best halves of the year and our third quarter was one of our worst quarters," Carlisle said. "... It's an obvious loss of concentration. We did something that I rarely do which is we watched some clips of the third quarter after the game so we can learn from it and move on. I told the guys, it's a great win, it's a really important win, but we can't back up the best defensive half of the year with one of the worst defensive quarters of the year. That's just a level of inconsistency (that we can't have.)"

Pascal Siakam scores a quiet 20

Pascal Siakam has already reached a point for the Pacers that 20-plus point outings are a regular occurrence and he can buoy them in times of struggle without bringing a lot of attention to himself.

That described Siakam's game fairly well on Thursday night. He hit the first two shots of the game for the Pacers, and he rarely took over after that, but he consistently made shots when the Pacers needed them in the second half, when he scored 11 of his 20 points. He finished 8 of 16 from the floor and 2 of 2 from 3-point range. He also had four rebounds and two assists.

"Pascal did a great job of either scoring the ball or getting the ball to other guys for good shots," Carlisle said.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers vs. Pistons: Tyrese Haliburton scores 25 points in win