Tyrese Haliburton’s OT winner, Pacers’ ball movement decides ugly Game 3 vs. Bucks

INDIANAPOLIS — About 90 minutes before Tyrese Haliburton lifted the Pacers to victory, he had a request to make.

The Pacers All-Star guard was taking the floor for his pregame warmup but as he scanned Gainbridge Fieldhouse, with sunshine yellow shirts adorning every seat in the house, something was throwing him off.

It had been over five years since Indiana last hosted 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. This was Haliburton’s home postseason debut and the Pacers had a great opportunity to take control of the series with the Milwaukee Bucks, so setting the tone was important.

To do that, Haliburton needed to hear music. Two specific songs to help get him in the zone.

Haliburton left the gathering of trainers and ball boys around the basket and headed to the southwest corner of the court where DJ BandCamp, the Pacers in-arena DJ, was setting up his equipment.

“This is gonna sound crazy,” Haliburton told Bandcamp, “But I need you to play ‘Unwritten’ by Natasha Bedingfield.

“And ‘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 at his table.

It was a simple ask. It’s common for NBA stars to have curated pregame playlists that boom in the arena speakers and Haliburton’s musical taste —a blend of hip-hop, pop and R&B classics — is wide-ranging. Haliburton was in his environment, he was home.

And at home, the Pacers do two things: trust in Haliburton, who finished with his first career playoff triple-double: 18 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds and trust in each other, a byproduct of ball movement.

Friday night’s 121-118 Pacers win was an ugly 48 minutes of basketball. What began as a sprint quickly slowed to a slugfest featuring 107 missed shots and 46 fouls. But the Pacers came away with a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven series.

Give credit to the Bucks, who, led by head coach Doc Rivers, have successfully plugged up the Pacers’ preferred style of play, reducing transition opportunities and throwing different defensive schemes at Indiana. On Friday night, the Bucks erased a 19-point lead. In Game 1, Milwaukee pressured Haliburton; in Game 3, Pascal Siakam was the target. Siakam finished with 17 points on 17 shots. Had the final five minutes of overtime gone differently, the Bucks would have stolen a crucial road playoff game. Rivers has caught considerable flak in the past for his lack of adjustments but the Bucks have put up a valiant effort without Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Pacers have had to counter what the Bucks have presented defensively, despite having faced them several times already this season. Indiana responded to Haliburton being forced off the ball by placing Siakam on the same side of the ball, furthering Haliburton’s runway beyond the 3-point line. This kept Myles Turner involved in screening actions and seeking advantages in the few transition opportunities they got.

This is the eighth meeting between the two teams and through three playoff games — and it’s clear there is a mutual disdain.

“We’ve got to look at ways to counter the things they’re doing and vice versa,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “It’s going to keep going like that — back and forth, back and forth.”

 The Pacers have the series lead because they’re sticking to their biggest principle — ball movement. 

“The ball movement is very important,” Carlisle said. “We’ve got to remind ourselves to play with pace and move it.”

During the regular season, the Pacers established themselves as the league’s best passing team, averaging 308.3 passes per game and 30.8 assists per game, first in both categories. Through three playoff games, Indiana ranks near the top of every passing statistic despite a slowed-down game. The Pacers are first in assists (29.0), secondary assists (5.5) and potential assists (51.5). You could argue the Bucks’ neutralizing pace has only intensified the importance of ball movement. In Game 2, Indiana recorded 38 assists on 50 made shots. On Friday, the Pacers finished with 32 assists on 42 made field goals. And Haliburton, tasked with the bulk of creation has been a steady hand throughout their postseason foray, assisting on 12 and 16 shots over the last two games. Ball movement is big part of Pacers culture. 

“In Game 1, we had a little segment on ‘one more,’ just being better at making the extra pass,” Haliburton said. “We’ve done a great job with these last two games getting guys open shots. When the ball is moving, everyone is touching it, getting open shots, the energy is just right — even if you’re not making them. I like to say the energy you put in the ball is important. I think every basketball player in the world can learn from that.” 

The first offensive play a team runs in a game is typically what they’ve worked on, or to see what the opposition plans to do. Haliburton has handled the ball for 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 feign a double drag to lift Turner from the corner and flow into a dribble handoff. Patrick Beverley is chasing while Brook Lopez hangs back in drop coverage. Once the ball begins to move, Haliburton can relocate to where he wants to operate (top of the key), knowing Lopez doesn’t want to defend the 3-point line. Haliburton draws in pressure and finds an open Turner.

Haliburton’s game-winner isn’t made possible without a deep trust in his teammates, especially with a back-and-forth contest in the balance. The Bucks are defending this late possession under the assumption the Pacers are going empty wing pick-and-roll with their two best players. Beverley has a feeling Haliburton will attempt to reject the screen and decides to block off his right, forcing him left.

But watch Nembhard instruct Nesmith to fill the strong side corner. Milwaukee uses Bobby Portis and Beverley to crowd Haliburton, as they’ve done all series long and get a desired outcome in him giving up the ball. The ball finds Siakam who gets it back to Haliburton, flows into a ball screen and immediately slips toward the basket. Middleton and Damian Lillard, the low man, slide in to contest, thinking Siakam will attempt a tough shot but he finds Nesmith in the corner. Before this possession, Nesmith had missed all six of his 3s, but that doesn’t deter his teammates from finding him in good position.

So when you see Haliburton with the ball in overtime, when you hear the emotion from his teammates and the Pacers fans in the stands ready to erupt, it’s a culmination of culture and trust. Haliburton was 7-of-21 from the field and 1-for-12 before taking the final shot.

“Just knew I was shooting it, no matter what,” Haliburton said. “Didn’t know what I was going to get to, just based off of feel out there. .. Finally made a shot. I couldn’t buy a bucket today. Glad that one went in.”

Tyrese Haliburton on dissecting Milwaukee’s defensive setup in real time, leading to his game-winning running floater in OT. pic.twitter.com/qz6Eesh1ue

— Kelly Iko (@KellyIko) April 27, 2024

Notes

• Eric Nehm and I will get into this before Game 4, but the Pacers have their work cut out for them. Middleton was smooth and got whatever he wanted in the half court. Nesmith did all he could, was physical all night and Middleton still finished with 42 points on 16-for-29 shooting. Offensively, they’ll also need to figure out ways to attack zone like they were able to in Game 2. I’d imagine fewer Jalen Smith minutes.

• Indiana’s 19 offensive rebounds are huge and turned the tide of the game, giving the Pacers repeated cracks at the apple. And it was their guards responsible for the bulk of their success on that end of the floor.

• Turner, who finished with 29 points on 10-of-21 shooting is a recipient of the defensive coverages Milwaukee is applying 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 his ego go “a long time ago,” is even brighter.

(Photo: Trevor Ruszkowski/USA Today)