INDIANAPOLIS — About 90 minutes before Tyrese Haliburton carried the Pacers to victory, he had one request to make.
The Pacers’ All-Star guard was taking the floor for his pregame warmup, but as he surveyed Gainbridge Fieldhouse, with sunshine yellow shirts adorning every seat in the house, something unsettled him.
It had been more than five years since Indiana had a playoff game — center Myles Turner was the only player to play in the 2019 series against the Boston Celtics. Haliburton was still a freshman at Iowa State. It was Haliburton’s playoff debut at home and the Pacers had a great opportunity to take control of the series with the Milwaukee Bucks, so it was important to set the tone.
To do this, Haliburton had to hear music. Two specific songs to help him get in the zone.
Haliburton left the gathering of coaches and ball boys around the basket and walked to the southwest corner of the court where DJ BandCamp, the Pacers’ arena DJ, was setting up his equipment.
“This is going to sound crazy,” Haliburton told Bandcamp, “But I need you to play ‘Unwriting’ by Natasha Bedingfield.
“And ‘I’ve Heard It All Before’ (by Sunshine Anderson).”
The DJ smiled and checked to see if Haliburton was joking. He wasn’t.
“I got you!” Bandcamp responded, eagerly putting the finishing touches on their table.
It was a simple request. It’s common for NBA stars to curate pregame playlists that blare from the arena speakers, and Haliburton’s musical tastes — a mix of hip-hop, pop and R&B classics — are very varied. Haliburton was in his environment, he was at home.
And at home, the Pacers do two things: trust Haliburton, who finished with his first triple-double of the playoffs: 18 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds, and trust each other, a byproduct of the movement of the ball.
The Pacers’ 121-118 victory Friday night was 48 minutes of basketball. What started as a sprint quickly turned into a fight with 107 missed shots and 46 fouls. But the Pacers came away with a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven series.
Let’s give credit to the Bucks, who, led by head coach Doc Rivers, managed to incorporate the Pacers’ preferred style of play, reducing transition opportunities and throwing different defensive schemes at Indiana. Friday night, the Bucks erased a 19-point lead. In the first game, Milwaukee put pressure on Haliburton; in Game 3, Pascal Siakam was the target. Siakam finished with 17 points on 17 shots. If the final five minutes of overtime had gone differently, the Bucks would have stolen a crucial playoff game on the road. Rivers has been criticized in the past for his lack of adjustments, but the Bucks put up a valiant effort without Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Pacers had to counter what the Bucks presented defensively, even though they have already faced them several times this season. Indiana responded to Haliburton being forced to strip the ball by putting Siakam on the same side of the ball, extending Haliburton’s trail past the 3-point line. This allowed Myles Turner to get involved in selection actions and seek advantage in the few transition opportunities they had.
This is the eighth meeting between the two teams and after three playoff games – and it’s clear there’s a mutual disdain.
“We have to look for ways to counter what they’re doing and vice versa,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “It’s going to continue like this – back and forth, back and forth.”
The Pacers are leading the series because they stick to their main principle: ball movement.
“Ball movement is very important,” Carlisle said. “We have to remember to play with the rhythm and keep it moving.”
During the regular season, the Pacers established themselves as the best passing team in the league, averaging 308.3 passes per game and 30.8 assists per game, first in both categories. Through three playoff games, Indiana ranks first in all passing statistics despite a slow game. The Pacers are first in assists (29.0), secondary assists (5.5) and potential assists (51.5). You could argue that the Bucks’ neutralizing pace only intensified the importance of ball movement. In the second game, Indiana recorded 38 assists on 50 made shots. On Friday, the Pacers finished with 32 assists on 42 field goals. And Haliburton, tasked with the bulk of the creation, has been a steady hand throughout his foray into the playoffs, assisting on 12 and 16 shots in the last two games. Ball movement is an integral part of the Pacers culture.
“In the first game we had a little segment on ‘one more,’ just to be better at the extra pass,” Haliburton said. “We’ve done a great job these last two games of allowing guys to open shots. When the ball moves, everyone touches it, gets open shots, the energy is perfect, even if you don’t make them. I like to say that the energy you put into the ball is important. I think every basketball player in the world can learn from this.
The first offensive play a team makes in a game is usually what they have been working on or to see what the opposition is planning to do. Haliburton has handled the ball enough possessions to know he can’t just open the set with a high screen — or he’ll get blitzed. Andrew Nembhard and Siakam on the weak side will fake a double drag to lift Turner from the corner and go for a dribble handoff. Patrick Beverley chases while Brook Lopez stays back in coverage. Once the ball starts moving, Haliburton can move to where he wants to operate (top of the key), knowing that Lopez doesn’t want to defend the 3-point line. Haliburton puts the pressure on and finds an open Turner.
Haliburton’s game-winning goal isn’t made possible without deep trust in his teammates, especially with a back-and-forth in play. The Bucks defend this late possession assuming the Pacers go pick-and-roll on the wings empty with their two best players. Beverley senses that Haliburton is going to try to throw off the screen and decides to block his right, forcing him to the left.
But watch Nembhard ask Nesmith to fill in at the strong side corner. Milwaukee uses Bobby Portis and Beverley to crowd Haliburton, as they have done throughout the series and achieves the desired result by giving up the ball. The ball finds Siakam who takes it back to Haliburton, throws himself into a ball screen and immediately slides to the basket. Middleton and low man Damian Lillard go for the contest, thinking Siakam will go for a tough shot but he finds Nesmith in the corner. Before this possession, Nesmith had missed all six of his 3s, but that didn’t stop his teammates from finding him in good position.
So when we see Haliburton with the ball in overtime, when we hear the emotion from his teammates and the Pacers fans in the stands ready to erupt, it’s a culmination of culture and confidence. Haliburton was 7 of 21 from the field and 1 of 12 before taking the final shot.
“I just knew I was shooting for it, no matter what,” Haliburton said. “I didn’t know what I was going to get, just based on my feelings. .. I finally made a shot. I couldn’t buy a bucket today. I’m glad this one went in.
Tyrese Haliburton on dissecting Milwaukee’s defensive setup in real time, leading to his game-winning floater in OT. pic.twitter.com/qz6Eesh1ue
-Kelly Iko (@KellyIko) April 27, 2024
Remarks
• Eric Nehm and I will address this topic before Game 4, but the Pacers have their work cut out for them. Middleton was smooth and got what he wanted in the half court. Nesmith did everything he could, was physical all night and Middleton still finished with 42 points on 16-of-29 shooting. Offensively, they will also have to find ways to attack the zone like they do. did in the second match. I imagine fewer minutes from Jalen Smith.
• Indiana’s 19 offensive rebounds were huge and turned the tide of the game, giving the Pacers repeated upsets. And it’s their guards who are responsible for most of their success on that side of the court.
• Turner, who finished with 29 points on 10-of-21 shooting, benefits from Milwaukee’s defensive coverages and is the X-factor in this series, especially when Siakam struggles and Haliburton isn’t super aggressive. His two-way work has been a bright spot and his mentality, admitting he let go of his ego “a long time ago,” is even brighter.
(Photo: Trevor Ruszkowski/USA Today)