“This has become his thing. There will be a new statistical category perhaps named after him somewhere down the line” said Rick Carlisle in praise of Tyrese Haliburton after Pacers star recorded 30-10-15, with ZERO TURNOVERS. It indicated that the player was on the way towards something special, as he could cover all bases while being efficient with ball security. With that stat, there was a belief that Haliburton’s dominance would also rub off on the rest of his players when the team eventually faced the Oklahoma City Thunder during the NBA Finals. Unfortunately, it seems to have rubbed off, but in the OPPOSITE way.

After the first half, it was reported that Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers committed a total of 19 turnovers! Yes, 19. In one half! That’s the most turnovers in any half in Finals history. If Tyrese Haliburton and co wanted to create early history in the Finals, then this was certainly not the way to do it.

Tyrese Haliburton himself had committed 3 of the turnovers, along with having made just 6 points after having scored just 22:07 minutes on the court. Aaron Nesmith and Myles Turner contributed the most to that stat, making 4 turnovers each. Ben Sheppard also had 3. Andrew Nembhard also made 2, while Pascal Siakam, T.J. McConnell, and Bennedict Mathurin recorded 1 turnover each. The Pacers had nine turnovers in the 1st quarter, and 10 more were added in the 2nd. Things could have been worse for the team, as the Oklahoma City Thunder squad turned the 19 giveaways into only 9 points, and the Pacers were down only 57-45 at the half. Plus, it did not help that, with 7:01 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter, the Pacers had extended their turnovers to 22.

Fortunately, the Indiana Pacers did not let that stat define them for the rest of the game. With 1:22 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter, OKC was only leading 110-107. Despite that, it was hard to ignore that the Pacers had 25 turnovers by that point, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and co had only 6. There has not been a 20-turnover first half in any NBA game. That is, since November 17th, 2007, when the New Jersey Nets (now Brooklyn Nets), recorded that number in the first 2 quarters of a 91-87 loss to the Miami Heat.

Therefore, despite a buzzer-beater helping them steal the win in Game 1, this will be a lesson for Rick Carlisle and co. However, it should have been a lesson from the start. After all, the coach had emphasized turnovers right from the early stages of the tournament.

Rick Carlisle emphasized turnovers after a 4-point loss against the 76ers: “That just can’t happen”

Today, no one would place the Indiana Pacers and the Philadelphia 76ers on the same pedestal. After all, one team made it to the NBA Finals, while another won only 24 out of 82 regular season games, i.e. the 5th worst record by a team in the ongoing season. However, the Pacers would not have gotten to this point if Paul George’s squad hadn’t delivered a humbling lesson to them first.

Back in late October, the Pacers lost 118-114 in an overtime game to the Philadelphia 76ers. Head coach Rick Carlisle, in a post-game presser, pointed to two areas needing immediate attention: rebounding and turnovers. He revealed that “We gave up 29 points off turnovers in New York and 31 (against Philadelphia). We’re still hanging in there, but the rebounding differential, I mean giving up 20 offensive boards, that just can’t happen”. He also added that “We’ve just got to pursue the ball better. It’s got to become more of priority. It’s something we’ve been talking a lot about. Rebounding hasn’t been a strength of ours, so it’s got to be a five-man responsibility. We’ve just got to do better. We’ve got to find a way.”

The advice was followed, and the Pacers turned the fortune in their favor. Instead of being affected by it, the team made others suffer, losing the ball too much. During Game 6 between the Pacers and the New York Knicks, the intensity on defense culminated in 18 New York turnovers. Of those 18 turnovers, 34 points were scored in a 17-point win. Going into the Finals, 8 Point 9 Seconds reporter Elie Deglaoui claimed that the Pacers “are one of the best teams in the league in terms of ball security and making the right passes”. The reporter claimed that the team needs to play to this strength. While they could not do justice to that in Game 1, they were fortunate enough to leave the building with a win.

Somewhat ironically, those turnovers might end up giving the Pacers a confidence boost. With the first Finals game (for most of the squad) under their belt, the nerves that Tyrese Haliburton acknowledged in a post-game interview should calm down. Now they have a better understanding of what they are up against. Added to the comeback win despite all those mistakes, they’ll be heading into Game 2 pretty high on confidence.