Pacers find winning spirit in Dallas
Haliburton's hard work pays off in helping deliver a desperate dub for the Pacers.
Tyrese Haliburton didn’t play his best game in the Pacers 137-120 win over the Mavericks on Tuesday, but few have been as important this season.
Hali’s 19 points, 11 assists and 3 of 10 from 3-land are essentially average numbers for the All-Star point guard this season, but the way he played after a couple of dour outings lifted the Pacers spirits and helped deliver a strong team effort against the combustible Mavericks.
The bounce, the smile, snapping passes, getting to the rim…the full Haliburton package is about far more than numbers on the stat sheet. When he plays with that spirit and competitiveness, the rest of the Pacers are eager to follow and that’s what we saw from the Pacers in Dallas.
As Dustin Dopirak reported, Haliburton was down after making zero threes in 12 attempts during the Pacers losses in New Orleans and San Antonio. He had his personal coach, Drew Hanlan fly into Dallas to put in some extra work on the Pacers off day. His old friend Buddy Hield, offered up the gym in his Dallas home and Haliburton used the tried and true method of putting in the work to get through a slump. The effort seemed to renew Haliburton’s energy and the Pacers showed up ready to roll from the tip.
This also may be a ‘horses for courses’ situation with the Mavs having more problems slowing down the Pacers than the Pacers do making the Mavs work on offense. For the second time in 10 days, the Pacers had their way with the Mavs to log a desperately needed win before heading back to Indy.
Everyone was in a good mood after this one. Again, Haliburton’s energy was more important than his production, but his teammates did their part with nine players scoring in double figures.
Speaking of Buddy, it also helped that Ben Sheppard, the heir apparent to Buddy’s three-point threat (with the added bonus of being able to play defense), was available after recovering from a bout of strep throat. Shep made an early three which is always a good sign, as he finished the game as a corner sniper, making three more treys that were all net.
Between Shep, Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard and Bennedict Mathurin the Pacers did their best to make Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving work for their buckets. Luka scored 39 points but did need 30 shots to get there. Regardless, the Mavs offense couldn’t offset their inability to slow down the Pacers.
Now what?
The Pacers return to the Fieldhouse to play the Timberwolves on Thursday. Minny continues to battle for the top spot in the West, but they will likely be without Karl-Anthony Towns. After playing the Wolves, the Pacers have a pair of tough roadies at Orlando on OKC. The Pacers will have to continue boosting the positive vibes to grabs wins while trying to keep pace in the playoff race in the East.
Bennedict Mathurin played 25 minutes off the bench on Tuesday but showed up on the injury report on Wednesday. Mathurin has a shoulder issue and is not expected to play on Thursday.
Game Details
Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
When: Thursday, Mar. 7, 2024, 7:00 p.m. ET
TV: Bally Sports
Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan
Odds: Pacers -1
Projected Starters
Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner
Timberwolves: Mike Conley Jr., Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniel, Naz Reid, Rudy Gobert
Injuries
Pacers: Bennedict Mathurin (shoulder)- out, Doug McDermott (calf) - out
Timberwolves: Jordan McLaughlin (illness) - questionable, Jaylen Clark (Achilles) - out, Karl-Anthony Towns - out (sore left knee)