Tyrese Haliburton has been the Pacers’ saviour throughout these playoffs. In every series so far, he has hit at least one big-time shot that has proven pivotal in their journey to the NBA Finals. But late game heroics are likely not going to cut it against an elite team like OKC. Haliburton needs to do more. Stephen A. Smith demands him to do more!
Although the series is currently tied at 1-1, Tyrese has played nowhere close to superstar level so far. In the opening game, he scored just 14 points, which was fortunately overshadowed by his epic game-winning shot in the final second. His struggles continued in Game 2, as he finished with merely 17 points—12 of those coming in the game practically out of Indiana’s sight. This time, the Pacers got blown out by the West champs. Meanwhile, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was on fire in both games.
Addressing the drastic contrast between the two franchise players, Stephen A. made his demand clear for Haliburton ahead of tomorrow’s encounter, “Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is not only a star, a superstar, but he plays the same position as Tyrese Haliburton. They are damn near the same height for crying out loud. You got to step up and handle your business!
The numbers speak for themselves: the Pacers are just 27-27 this season when Tyrese Haliburton scores under 20 points—including their Game 1 loss in the Finals. Flip that stat, and it’s a whole different story. When Haliburton scores 20 or more? Indiana is a dominant 32-4. So when Stephen A. Smith calls on Tyrese to be more aggressive and step up on the biggest stage of his career, he’s not just stirring the pot—he’s absolutely right.
He even addressed the issue during Sunday’s postgame presser, “I just got to figure out how to be better earlier in games. Kudos to them, they’re a great defensive team. But (I will) watch the film, see where I can get better.” Now that the series is heading to Indiana, maybe playing on the home court will finally end the point guard’s struggles. As for SAS’s criticism and demands, Hali is used to it by now.
