Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton Disagrees With Rick Carlisle on Why Indiana is Losing Games

Ricardo Klein | 6 Hours Ago

Oct 30, 2023; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle and guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) look on in the second half against the Chicago Bulls at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

The Indiana Pacers have been in a slump, which continued on Friday when they suffered their third consecutive loss of the season to the Milwaukee Bucks, 129-117. 

The Pacers are not the team many thought they would be after an impressive 2023-24 season. They seemed to take a step or two back, and much of it has to do with the play of their All-Star guard, Tyrese Haliburton.

Haliburton has not been himself this season. He is in the first year of a five-year max contract that will pay him approximately $245 million, and he has yet to play like he deserves that money, not even a little. 

There have been flashes of it this season, but not enough to lead the Pacers to wins. Of course, the injuries don't help the Pacers' chances of winning. They are still without three of their pivotal players this early in the season, including Aaron Nesmith (left ankle sprain), guard Andrew Nembhard (right knee tendinitis), and Ben Sheppard, who has missed the last three games due to a strain left oblique. 

Injuries are not helping, but if you ask Haliburton, he thinks the problem is far from that. After Friday's loss, Haliburton was blunt on why his team has struggled thus far. 

"Lineups change, it's part of basketball," Haliburton said. "It's not the reason we're losing. I gotta be better. I don't want to put it on lineups. We have a lot of young guys playing hard, trying their best. I gotta be better."

Injuries have hurt, but so has Haliburton's play. His three-point shot has been abysmal, and he has not been consistent. 

After averaging better than 20 points per game in each of the past two seasons, Haliburton is down to 15.3 this season. He's never shot worse from the field than 47 percent for a whole season, but he's made just 37.8 percent of his shots this year. He'd never shot worse than 40 percent from 3-point range before slumps last year dragged him down to 36.4 percent. He's down to 29.4 percent this year, making just 37 on 126 attempts.

Overall this season, Haliburton is averaging just 15.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 8.5 assists, which is good for seventh in the league, and is shooting only 37.8 percent from the field. 

Many thought that playing alongside the best players in the world this past summer would do Haliburton wonders for his game; however, that has not been the case thus far. 

This team will only go as far as Haliburton could take them, and so far, it won't be too far. 

More Pacers: Bennedict Mathurin On Pace to Win Major Season Award