The Indiana Pacers faced off against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, but after a sluggish start for the second straight game, they couldn’t claw their way back, ultimately falling 123-107. Tyrese Haliburton’s night was a mixed bag; he finished with 17 points and 6 assists, but his first-half performance left much to be desired – he managed just 3 points and 3 assists while shooting 1-of-5 from the field, which contributed to Indiana trailing 59-41 at halftime.
It was a tough outing for Haliburton, who—while crediting Oklahoma City’s aggressive defense—recognized the need for an earlier impact. He found himself bogged down with five turnovers, the most he’s recorded in any game this season, regular season or playoffs. After the game, he admitted, “This is who they are defensively. They have a lot of different guys who can guard the ball, fly around. … I just got to figure out how to be better earlier in games. Kudos to them, they’re a great defensive team. But I’ll watch the film and see where I can get better.”
In Game 1, Haliburton’s late-game heroics had been the talk of the town, but he displayed a similar struggle in the first half of that game, tallying just 6 points and 3 assists. A recurring trend is emerging here, particularly with the Thunder’s strategy to limit his opportunities in the paint. Numbers from ESPN Research highlight this: Haliburton managed to touch the paint on only 9 of his 100 touches (9.0%) in Game 2 after just 7 of 108 touches (6.5%) in Game 1, marking both as his lowest percentages in 18 playoff games this season.
“Our offense is built from the inside out,” Haliburton explained, acknowledging that they need to improve their downhill attacking. “They collapse and then make plays there, but I thought we could improve a lot in that area. They’ve got great point-of-attack defenders and rim protectors. They’re a great defense.”
While Haliburton has experienced peak moments, including clutch shots, he has also faced challenges during this playoff run. After struggling to hit the scoreboard with just 15 combined points in Games 3 and 4 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and scoring only 8 in a critical Game 5 loss against the New York Knicks, he is no stranger to defensive pressure.
Yet, there’s resilience in Haliburton. His teammate, Myles Turner, pointed out, “With Tyrese, there are plenty of formulas to get him going. There are things we went over in our game plan that we didn’t execute well enough today. We need to establish our ability to score in the paint early on. We only had four or six points in the paint in the first half, and that’s not Pacers basketball.”
As the game progressed, Haliburton began to find his footing late, scoring 12 points in the fourth quarter on an impressive 5-of-6 shooting (2-of-3 from deep), but it wasn’t enough to drive a comeback. “Through the course of a series, even in the games that you lose, you’re trying to learn from them, see where you can get better,” he reflected. “We had some success playing off pitch a little more, flying around, as opposed to just relying on high ball screens that allow defenses to pack the paint.”
With the series tied at one game each, the Pacers will be heading back to Indianapolis for the city’s first taste of the NBA Finals since 2000. Haliburton encapsulated the mindset heading into Game 3: “There are many different ways to digest what’s in front of you. We just focus on taking it a day at a time. You got the split; you feel good about that. But we definitely wanted to play better tonight.”
