Pacers’ Game 3 adjustments
To bounce back in Game 3, the Pacers need better starts, transition offense, and a plan for Shai.
The Indiana Pacers are a blur.
For them, no possession is too short. They scoop rebounds and fling passes up and down the floor, looking to destabilize opponents, getting open looks before defenses can get set. Sometimes, their up-tempo offense doesn’t even need to come off misses; there have been times this postseason when the Pacers have inbounded passes off of made shots, launching outlets ahead to get free layups.
Indiana ranked seventh in pace in the regular season, generating 100.76 possessions per 48 minutes. And, for the Pacers to have a shot to upset the Thunder in the NBA Finals, maintaining that destabilizing speed will be paramount because no team has been better on defense than Oklahoma City.
“They’re very stubborn in their approach,” Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said Wednesday, June 4. “They kind of grind you with the way they play. They wear you down. …
“They know their identity and they stick to it, no matter what.”
How do the Pacers do it, exactly?
For one, they’re something of an anomaly in today’s NBA, and, to a certain extent, Indiana thrives on trust — practically requires it.
Essentially, coach Rick Carlisle, in his fourth season with the Pacers, has evolved Indiana’s offense, yielding in-game control to his players. Carlisle allows them to operate within the flow of the game. He has entrusted them to call plays or even go by feel, having loose actions that players can execute outside of set plays.
It’s a philosophy based on off-ball movement and spacing, one that All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton recently characterized as “organized chaos” — and he meant that as a high compliment.
Center Myles Turner, the longest-tenured Pacer, in his 10th season with the franchise, has seen this evolution first-hand.
“Rick was a coach that used to call a play every single possession,” Turner told reporters Wednesday, June 4. “Even Rick’s first year here, we had a game where he did that: he stopped us and called a play every single possession.
“In the dawn of this new NBA, especially in the playoffs, that stuff doesn’t work. It’s easy to scout. But when you have random movement on offense, guys that are someone like Tyrese who wants to pass the ball, it makes the game a little bit easier, especially for a guy like myself who thrives with space.”
Tyrese Haliburton is the catalyst
It all starts with Haliburton.
He’s a pass-first point guard, and the Pacers take their cue from him. His default is to get out into the open floor, pushing the pace. He’s Indiana’s motor, and his energy rubs off on others. But even when Indiana operates in the half-court, it tends to operate with speed — thanks to Haliburton.
Typically, he will begin sets with the ball in his hands, while other players rotate and work off each other. Sometimes, Haliburton will feign drives and get into the paint before dishing it to open players. Other times, he’ll simply look for teammates in open spaces.
But what makes the Pacers excel is a selflessness — embodied most by Haliburton, almost to a fault. Haliburton leads all players in the playoffs with 9.8 assists per game, though he can become too deferential.
Indiana is certainly at its best when Haliburton balances distribution and shot-making, but his pass-first mentality trickles down to his teammates, who — rather than focus on iso actions to stack points and stats — work to find the open man.
“I just want to impact winning,” Haliburton said Tuesday, May 27, after his historic triple-double in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals.
“I’m just trying to do that to the best of my ability. We’re building something special here. We’re having a lot of fun with what we’re doing. I feel like I’m at the forefront along with a lot of these guys. I’m just trying to play the right way.”
‘Better than the sum of the parts’
Aside from Haliburton, the Pacers also need players who can score from all three levels. Turner is an excellent example, a center who can knock down 3s just as comfortably as he can lace mid-range jumpers and work in the post.
Shooting guard Aaron Nesmith ignited for six 3-pointers in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals and backup center Thomas Bryant, who had been out of the rotation, drained 3-of-4 from deep in the decisive Game 6.
“I think the whole is better than the sum of the parts,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said Wednesday, June 4, when asked about teams coached by Carlisle. “Almost consistently across every year he’s ever coached, the team is better than their sum. I think that’s a reflection of him.
“His teams play a clear identity, stay in character through all the ups and downs. That identity has changed over the years based on his teams, the league trends. But his teams are always in character. This year is certainly no exception.”