But how far will he go? After finishing 2023 with two games with at least 20 points, 20 assists, Tyrese Haliburton begins 2024 with great fanfare with two victories against Milwaukee. Already valuable Monday evening in the success of the Pacers in Wisconsin (133-122), the former leader of Sacramento was this time the great architect of this new triumph (142-130) with a new performance of choice: 31 points to 50% shooting success, 12 assists for zero lost balls!
At the initiative and at the conclusion of the 10-0 which changed the match in the third quarter (87-74), he then delighted with his drives and his outside baskets but also his two caviars for Myles Turner: a “no-look pass” for a ready dunk then a pass behind the back for an open 3-point shot.
Defend well to attack better
With this fifth consecutive victory in its pocket, Indiana achieves the good operation of the night by putting itself back in the race for the Top 4 of the Eastern Conference!
“Winning gives pleasure, and that’s what we’re doing at the moment. We take pleasure in winning”, confided Tyrese Haliburton after the match. “ We have to continue to be competitive at the highest level, get good shots, and good things will happen. We knew how to stay focused on defense and we knew how to hit our shots. We knew we had to make defensive stops to make the difference, and that’s what we managed to do in the second half.”
The Pacers leader insisted on the quality of the defense which allowed his team to make the difference in the third quarter, with 47 points scored, a record this season for Rick Carlisle's troops.
“We did a good job of creating defensive stops when we needed them. We showed our hands well without making a mistake. This is a team that shoots a lot of free throws with Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo. They are difficult to defend. Even if they finished at 13 and 10 shots attempted tonight, I feel like we did a good job.”he added. “Forcing them to finish above us, to win the rebound battle… It allowed us to run. And when we can play in transition, we become a difficult team to beat. And we did it tonight, even better than in our previous meetings against these guys this season.”
Tyrese Haliburton hasn't forgotten the “match ball” episode
NBA tournament included, Milwaukee and Indiana have faced each other five times this season, and the Pacers have won four times. Enough to measure themselves against a title candidate after a third of the regular season, and also take their revenge on Giannis Antetokounmpo's 64 points recorded in the Bucks' only victory in mid-December, and marred by a diplomatic incident after the meeting around the match ball.
“It's interesting to have been able to play this team so many times, and I think we handled it the right way. There was this match in Milwaukee which went a little badly, and I think we responded well afterwards,” he emphasized. “Things were said on both sides, we were ready for that and we handled it well. It allows us to see where we are against these kinds of teams quite early in the season. It's interesting “.
As a good leader, Tyrese Haliburton is already looking ahead with appetite, while Boston will present itself for a double-header at home and will then have to tackle a perilous six-game road trip.
“There was a lot of energy around this match. Our month of January is going to be very hard. We have a lot of difficult opponents coming. We will have to manage this correctly. We are on a good run now, we want to try to continue it,” he continued. “We are prepared to play against any team. We can compete with anyone. We are ready.”
| Tyrese Haliburton | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2020-21 | BAG | 58 | 30 | 47.2 | 40.9 | 85.7 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 5.3 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 13.0 |
| 2021-22 * | All Teams | 77 | 35 | 47.3 | 41.4 | 84.2 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 8.2 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 15.3 |
| 2021-22 * | BAG | 51 | 34 | 45.7 | 41.3 | 83.7 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 7.4 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 14.3 |
| 2021-22 * | IND | 26 | 36 | 50.2 | 41.6 | 84.9 | 0.9 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 9.6 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 3.2 | 0.6 | 17.5 |
| 2022-23 | IND | 56 | 34 | 49.0 | 40.0 | 87.1 | 0.6 | 3.1 | 3.7 | 10.5 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 20.7 |
| 2023-24 | IND | 29 | 34 | 50.1 | 40.6 | 85.6 | 0.7 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 12.7 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 24.7 |
| Total | 220 | 33 | 48.3 | 40.7 | 85.7 | 0.7 | 3.0 | 3.7 | 8.6 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 17.3 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
