The “overrated” designation attached to Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton never felt quite right. Not when The Athletic designated him as such in an anonymous poll of his peers (a few of them, anyway) on the eve of the NBA playoffs, and not as he has led his team to the brink of the Finals.
But enigmatic? That is certainly a discussion worth having.
His play has at times been as questionable as the survey’s methodology. In the case of the latter, only 90 of the league’s 450 players cast a ballot for MOP, and 13 chose Haliburton. While that is 14.4 percent of respondents, it is just 2.9 percent of the NBA’s rank and file.
Hardly an overwhelming non-endorsement.
On the court, he staked the Pacers to a 3-1 lead over the New York Knicks with a glittering 32-point, 15-assist, 12-rebound, zero-turnover outing in a 130-121 Game 4 victory. But Haliburton followed that with a shockingly listless performance in Game 5, missing five of seven shots and scoring eight points as New York rolled, 111-94.
Now the Pacers host Game 6 on Saturday night, in a series that can be viewed as one would a kaleidoscope: Depending upon when and where you look at it, things appear totally different.
Oh, so the Pacers won Games 1 and 2 in Madison Square Garden? They’re gonna breeze!
And the Knicks took Game 3 in Indianapolis? Knicks in six, baby!
But Indy defended homecourt in Game 4, courtesy of Haliburton’s gem? It’s over.
Oh, but the Knicks bounced back? Knicks in seven, baby!
Now it feels like the Pacers face a must-win situation in their own gym, and they’re hurting. Aaron Nesmith, a good shooter and Indiana’s best defender against Jalen Brunson, has a bad ankle. Tony Bradley, their backup center (and, it might be recalled, a Sixer for 20 games in ‘20-21), might not be available because of a bad hip.
But the biggest predictor of Indiana’s success would appear to be Haliburton’s play. He has averaged 21.3 points a game on 47.7 percent shooting in Indy’s 11 postseason victories, and 11.5 points on 39 percent shooting in the Pacers’ four losses. That’s incredible variance from a guy who was chosen third-team All-NBA last season and has played in two All-Star Games (though not this year’s).
Certainly the Knicks picked up their defense in Game 5. Certainly Haliburton was a focal point of that D. And certainly no one but Bennedict Mathurin played well offensively for Indiana, in a game that was contested on New York’s terms from the outset.
Still, it was stunning to see Haliburton fire just seven times in a little over 31 minutes. This is a guy who in addition to his huge Game 4 had the look of a guy who had taken an enormous leap this postseason. A guy who hit the winning 3-pointer in Game 2 of Indiana’s East semifinal upset of top-seeded Cleveland, and the game-tying jumper at the regulation buzzer in the opener of this series. A guy who has dropped 31 points or more in three of his last six games.
But now it’s difficult to know what to expect.
After Game 5 he told reporters it had been “a rough night,” and added that the Knicks didn’t do much differently on the defensive end than they had in earlier games.
“Now it’s on us to respond in Game 6,” he told reporters. “Put it on me, and I’ll be better.”
The Pacers are seeking to avoid becoming the 14th team in NBA history to lose a series after building a 3-1 lead. (The Sixers are one of three teams to have done it twice, in 1968 and 1981.) But to do so they’re clearly going to need the best of Haliburton, because this latest look through the kaleidoscope has provided us with yet another view of this most fascinating series, one in which the Pacers have to date outscored the Knicks by just six points.
Now it really looks like New York has a chance. Brunson has been a beast, Karl-Anthony Towns is dominating Myles Turner and the Knicks’ bench continues to be a factor.
But all that goes out the window if Haliburton is Haliburton. He holds the key to this series. It’s just a matter of whether he turns it or not.