Tyrese Haliburton has been a stud in the playoffs so far, but he did not have his best performance on Friday night.
With the Pacers up in the series against the Cavaliers and returning home, Haliburton couldn’t get anything going in Game 3, as the Cavaliers beat Indiana 126-104. Despite the loss, Indiana is still up 2-1 and has home-court advantage in the series thanks to two victories in Cleveland.
Haliburton is coming off a game in which he shocked the Cavaliers with four late points on a free throw and a three-pointer, allowing Indiana to steal the second game of the series. However, facing an opportunity to put a stranglehold on the series, Haliburton couldn’t find his rhythm.
Head coach Rick Carlisle acknowledged Haliburton’s struggles after the game, but he put the blame partially on him.
“Ty had a rough game,” Carlise said. “I’ve got to do more to get him involved.”
Here’s a breakdown of Haliburton’s forgettable performance.
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Tyrese Haliburton stats Game 3 vs. Cavaliers
During Game 3, Haliburton was very quiet, failing to produce much offense against Cleveland.
- Minutes: 30
- Points: 4
- Rebounds: 0
- Assists: 5
- Steals: 1
- Turnovers: 3
- FGM-FGA: 2-8
- 3PM-3PA: 0-1
- FTM-FTA: 0-0
Haliburton’s four points on the night is the fewest in his young playoff career, as his previous low was six in Game 1 against the Knicks last year. Haliburton isn’t always known for his scoring, as he averaged 18.4 points per game ahead of Game 3 in these playoffs,
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The Pacers point guard has now failed to score double-digits in a playoff game three times in 23 postseason games, but this is only the second time that Haliburton made no three-pointers in a game. His one three-point attempt and zero rebounds are also career lows, as he previously totaled at least two rebounds in every playoff game.
Haliburton himself was not made available to the media after the game. While Haliburton struggled, his counterpart in Cleveland excelled. Donovan Mitchell totaled 43 points in what was essentially a must-win game for Cleveland on Friday night.
Moving forward, Haliburton should be better as the Pacers look to win this series. Last year, when he scored just six points against New York, he followed that up with 34 and 35 points, respectively, in Games 2 and 3, both of which are his top two playoff point totals.
