There is a sense that Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton isn’t playing up to his potential this season. In each of the two prior seasons, he went over 20 points and 10 assists a game, and so far this season, he’s at 18.4 points and 8.8 assists per game.
But since the calendar turned over to 2025, he has been putting up 19.4 points and 9.0 assists per contest while shooting 45.1 percent from 3-point range. He has also notched 1.9 steals a game during that time, but arguably the most impressive thing he has done is protect the basketball.
He has turned the ball over just 1.7 times a game this season, which is even more impressive when one considers the fact that the Pacers are a fast-breaking team. After dishing out 12 assists in Sunday’s 127-112 win over the Chicago Bulls, Haliburton became the first NBA player to record 500 assists before reaching 100 turnovers in a season.
Tyrese Haliburton is the first player in NBA history to record 500 AST before reaching 100 TOV in a single season. pic.twitter.com/vKwyR6SjVY
— StatMamba (@StatMamba) March 2, 2025
He averaged 2.3 turnovers a game last season and 2.5 a game during the 2022-23 campaign, so getting that figure down to 1.7 per game this season represents a significant improvement.
As a team, the Pacers average the fifth-fewest turnovers per game in the NBA and are also fifth in turnover percentage. It is a reason they’re eighth in offensive rating, and with a 34-25 record, they hold fifth place in the Eastern Conference but have the same record as the fourth-place Milwaukee Bucks.
They will play the Bucks next Tuesday at home, and that game will carry some definite playoff implications for both teams.
