On paper, it was the ideal opponent to start under new colors… Traveling to Portland, the Pacers presented themselves with their rookie Pascal Siakam, but also Tyrese Haliburton and Aaron Nesmith, returning from injury. Facing one of the weakest teams around, everything seemed ideal.
But then, the Pacers never found the solution to the problems caused by Jerami Grant and Malcolm Brogdon (67 points combined), and they lost 118-115 at the Moda Center. But Rick Carlisle however liked what he saw from the former Raptors winger, author of 21 points, but overwhelmed on defense by an untenable Grant.
“He’s a player we’ve coveted for a long time, and I appreciated him on both ends of the pitch,” assures the Pacers coach. “He's a unique guy because if you put him in an NBA game, he's going to find a way to do whatever he wants and you don't even have to run a system for him. He just has a gift. »
Tyrese Haliburton has seen beautiful things
It is for this reason that Carlisle is very optimistic for the future, even if this defeat is difficult. “ That's why I wasn't worried about him adapting in the short term. He needs to learn other important aspects of our system, both offensively and defensively, and we will work on that tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. »
Author of 21 points and 17 assists for his return, Haliburton found that this first from Siakam was promising: “We saw flashes of beautiful things.”
Next outing, Sunday, in Phoenix to finish a six-match “road trip”.
