CHICAGO — Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton scored 21 points and dished out a career-high 20 assists without committing a turnover to lead Indiana to a 120-104 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Thursday, making him just the second player in NBA history with 20 points and 20 assists without a miscue (Chris Paul, 2016).
“I’ve done a terrible job taking care of the ball lately, so it was good to see zero turnovers again,” Haliburton said. “And you don’t get 20 assists without guys making shots.”
The Pacers needed every bit of Haliburton’s offense during the fourth quarter. Chicago rallied and led 93-90 after trailing by as many as 25 points earlier before Haliburton took over. He delivered a pass that led to a Buddy Hield 3-pointer that tied the score. Then, Haliburton hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Pacers ahead.
Haliburton scored or assisted on Indiana’s next 16 points, finishing with eight points and five assists during the final period to lead the Pacers to a second straight win.
“That’s what he’s been doing pretty much since he’s been here,” said Pacers center Myles Turner, who finished with 24 points and six rebounds. “It’s been phenomenal to watch, phenomenal to be a part of.”
And at the start of the day, it wasn’t clear whether Haliburton would even play because of a back injury.
After shootaround on Thursday morning, Haliburton said he spent most of the afternoon in the training room, getting treatment from team trainers. He refused to sit or lay down for the rest of the day, keeping himself busy by playing the video game “Super Mario Strikers.”
Once Haliburton got to the arena and warmed up before the game, he felt much better.
“I was surprised that he played based on how he was presenting this morning,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.
This game marked Haliburton’s fourth this season racking up at least 15 assists without a turnover, the most by any player since turnovers were first tracked in the 1977-78 season, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Thursday was the first time in the past eight games Haliburton finished without turning the ball over — he averaged 4.0 turnovers during that span.
“There’s no secret that I’ve went through a little bit of a slump lately,” he said. “It’s been pretty cool to feel that and understand every guy in the league has slumps like that. I’ve never really had that before … it’s been cool to see that and grow from that. That’s all part of the growth of me as a person and a player.”
As for the team, the Pacers were proud they held the Bulls to 104 points, matching their lowest opposing point total in a game this season.
Indiana — which owns the No.1 offensive rating in the NBA but rank No. 28 in defensive rating — has struggled since it reached the in-season tournament final in Las Vegas, going 4-6 since. But Carlisle challenged his team to be better defensively during a practice last week and said he has been impressed by the way it has responded.
“We’ve made defense an emphasis over the last couple weeks; we know that’s going to make or break our season,” Haliburton said. “We know offensively we’re putting together one of the best seasons ever and we don’t plan on slowing down on that end … something that travels well and can be done on a nightly basis, is getting stops.”
