How The Indiana Pacers Tried To Adjust With Tyrese Haliburton Sidelined

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton made it clear that his goal is to return to action for the Indiana Pacers tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers. He has missed the Pacers last 10 games with left knee and elbow injuries, but he is close to returning.

Indiana went 1-9 in the 10 games without Haliburton, far and away their worst stretch of play this season. Three of those nine losses were by six points or less, but that actually reflects another area of the game where the Pacers struggled without their best player — clutch time. The Pacers had to change their style without Haliburton just to get by.

The blue and gold are typically an effective offensive team that likes to play with pace. Prior to Haliburton sitting out, the team ranked 15th in offensive rating at 113.2. That isn’t great, but it’s good enough to keep the young and speedy Pacers in games. Their pace — the number of possessions per 48 minutes — ranked seventh at 101.77 in that same span.

In the 10 games without Haliburton, Indiana tried to maintain their play style. They played fast and got into their offense early, their pace actually increased to 102.35 in the 10-game period. But maintaining their play style actually didn’t help the Pacers. Their offensive rating fell to 110.4, good for 26th in the league. Scoring has been difficult for the blue and gold of late.

“We lost a whole lot without Tyrese. Tyrese is pretty much our whole team. He’s our leader, he’s everything for us,” Pacers center Jalen Smith said.

Indiana tried to maintain their style, and their identity, with Haliburton sidelined. But playing fast without their offensive engine proved to be difficult. The three-year pro can push the ball in transition, throw his teammates open early in possessions, and read what the defense is doing quickly. All of those skills make it easier for the Pacers to play fast.

Pacers reserve point guard T.J. McConnell can do some of those things. He’s quick, he can get into the paint, and he can initiate offense without hesitation. “He’s always a threat to get in the paint, he’s a threat to finish. He really wants to facilitate and find guys. He does everything,” Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said of McConnell.

But the veteran point guard isn’t the same level of outside shooter as Haliburton, and that limits what he can do while also changing the way that the rest of the lineup he is playing with is defended. McConnell moving into the starting five halfway through Haliburton’s absence improved the Pacers fortunes, but it wasn’t enough for the team to match their level of play from their games with Haliburton.

In the absence of an identity without Haliburton, the Pacers tried to find different solutions. They altered the rotation often, starting several different players over the course of the 10 games. They moved various reserves in and out of the rotation. They played slower and fast, they mixed in zone defenses, and they added in new actions for their bigs. It helped the team improve, but it didn’t help them win.

While the Pacers offense suffers the most when Haliburton sits, their defensive tumble was perhaps their biggest issue. This past Tuesday, even with Haliburton back and available for practice, the blue and gold worked on defense for much of their intense tune up session. Indiana’s defensive rating fell to 27th in the league with a ghastly 121.1 with Haliburton out.

That correlation makes some sense. The Pacers were scoring less without Haliburton and turning the ball over more (about 1.2% more often), meaning their opponents had a higher volume of easy transition opportunities. Haliburton isn’t a strong defender, but his ability to help the blue and gold put the ball through the rim helps his team’s defense.

It was a snowball effect. The Pacers offense was naturally worse without Haliburton, which hurt their defense. With a weaker defense, the Pacers were taking the ball out of the net more often, meaning they couldn’t play as fast on offense. That hurt their offensive efficiency. The pattern continued, and it made it hard for Indiana to win.

“He’s the offensive threat, just being that playmaker for our team and just making sure we’re all connected,” Smith said of Haliburton. “It’s a big hole to fill, but we’re trying to fill it as best as we can.”

Even beyond losing Haliburton’s individual production, Smith noted something key — Indiana also lost the point guards ability to keep other players connected and involved. Haliburton leads the league with 10.2 assists per game, and that is nearly 39% of the Pacers assists per game total. He sets up a significant portion of his team’s offense.

Without him, most members of the blue and gold get lower quality shots. Only two Pacers players — Smith and Bennedict Mathurin — who have played at least 150 minutes with Haliburton this season have a better effective field goal percentage when they don’t play with the masterful distributor.

Indiana passes the ball often, they are one of only three teams that averages more than 300 passes per game. They are generally effective and resourceful with their passes, they average nearly 51 potential assists per game for the season. That number dropped to 49 with Haliburton out despite a similar total pass volume, and Indiana’s actual assists per game number dropped to 23.9 with Haliburton out. They still tried to pass the ball and keep it moving on offense, but they were throwing less impactful passes.

“The energy with the ball. You never see someone that’s like him… you never see someone that’s willingly giving the ball and wanting to share it,” Pacers forward Terry Taylor said of what the Pacers have been missing without their star. “I think we’ve lost a sense of that sharing ever since he [got injured].”

Teammate Aaron Nesmith agreed. “Phenomenal passer, ball mover, floor spacer. He’s a leader of our team, so it’s like losing one of your major voices,” he said. “We’re excited for him to come back.”

The Pacers tried to play fast, pass the ball often, and maintain much of their identity with Haliburton out. But it didn’t work. It led to more aimless and forced passing. It generated more turnovers. And it hurt Indiana on defense. They tried to mix and match lineups to compensate for those deficiencies, and that helped, but not enough to overcome what the blue and gold lost.

The Pacers may have been better off trying to slow things down more and keeping it simple with fewer passes. That said, it’s incredibly challenging to dramatically change a team’s playstyle midseason. Few can, or will, fault Indiana for trying to stay afloat with the strategies that have worked for them all year.

What was truly learned in the 10 games the Pacers played without Haliburton is how important he is to the team’s success. The team now has a net rating that is 3.84 points per 100 possessions better with Haliburton on the court. He is vital to the 24-28 group.

The Pacers tried to replace Tyrese Haliburton, but his incredible skills and unique style made that difficult. Now, they will try to reintegrate him and get back on track as quickly as possible.