By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Tyrese Haliburton’s resurgence was on full display during the Indiana Pacers’ 119-104 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, in the ongoing NBA regular season on December 16, 2024.
After a slow start in the season, Haliburton is slowly regaining his form and notched his second consecutive double-double performance after tallying 21 points, 10 assists, four rebounds, three steals, and a block.
Despite the backlash and the criticism Haliburton consistently received following Indiana’s disappointing losses in the past weeks, the Olympic gold medalist re-aligned his focus and vowed to spearhead the Pacers’ stellar closing campaign before the year ends.
Haliburton torched New Orleans with an efficient shooting from the three-point line, draining four out of his eight total attempts while getting to the charity stripe three times and sank five of his free throws.
From the get-go, Haliburton asserted his dominance in the game by making his step-back treys while setting up his teammates for open looks.
His fine play steered the Pacers to a 17-point lead at the half, 59-42, and continued to take control of the ball game in the remaining two quarters of the game.
The savvy floor general dictated the tempo of the game in favor of the Pacers and pushed the leather every time they grabbed the defensive rebounds.
Despite CJ McCollum’s late buckets in the fourth, Haliburton sent the Pelicans packing after orchestrating a pick-and-roll play with Pascal Siakam that ballooned their lead back to 14 points in the last three minutes.
With the sizable lead that Indiana already had, head coach Rick Carlisle decided to pull all of their starters out to preserve them for their next scheduled trip.
Backstopping Haliburton’s all-around effort was Siakam who dropped a team-high 22-point production alongside five rebounds, two dimes, a rejection, and a steal.
Myles Turner, the team’s veteran anchor underneath, already received his usual minutes after recovering from an injury that kept him out for almost two weeks.
The renowned shot blocker sent back four shots from the Pelicans and ended the night with 14 markers, six boards, two assists, and two steals.
On the other hand, New Orleans dropped their fourth consecutive game and is looking to break their losing streak on December 20, 2024, against the Houston Rockets.
