INDIANAPOLIS — Tyrese Haliburton met with the media Saturday afternoon following the Pacers‘ film session and went over point-by-point everything that went wrong in their 126-104 loss to the Cavs in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals and with his shaky performance. Haliburton managed just four points on 2 of 8 shooting Friday and five assists against three turnovers, posting a -20 plus-minus figure in 30 minutes.
The ease with which he talked about his and the team’s shortcomings and the insight he provided made it seem even more odd that he didn’t meet with the media on Friday night.
As a two-time All-Star point guard, an Olympic gold medalist and a max contract player in the first year of a five-year deal worth nearly $245 million, Haliburton is the face of the Pacers’ franchise and has ably and willingly handled the media portion of that responsibility over the last three seasons, even in the face of tough losses. On Thursday, he was named to the Pro Basketball Writer Associations All-Interview team as part of the second team.
It was out of the ordinary, then, that he did not meet with the media after Friday. Officially, Haliburton was not made available by Pacers public relations staff.
Haliburton was asked Saturday why he wasn’t made available and was somewhat cryptic.
“I’ve talked to y’all after almost every game,” Haliburton said Saturday with Game 4 of the series coming at 8 p.m. Sunday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. “If I’m not made available, it’s not always my decision. I can’t control it. I mean, you’re talking to me now. Any questions you have about the game last night, you can ask me right now. I just was not made available last night. I’m sure people wanted to hear what I had to say after last night’s game, but I’m here right now to talk to you, so if you want to ask me, you’re more than welcome to.
“I don’t run away from any questions. I went through harder times than last night. Whatever you have to ask, I’ll be there. If there’s commentary around me not talking last night, people are more than allowed to approach me and have a conversation with me about it. I can’t control everything, but I don’t run from anything. If you have questions to ask I’m right here.”
By that point, Haliburton had already been asked at length about what the Cavs did to keep him from getting going and what he had to do to change that. Haliburton was extensively face-guarded in man-to-man defense by Cavs wing Max Strus and others and had a hard time escaping from their grasps to get room to operate.
“It’s just an interesting challenge,” Haliburton said. “Just learning how to counter that. I gotta do a better job of keeping myself involved as a screener, creating chaos, creating movement myself. I think I’m getting in the habit of just standing right now, which doesn’t help anybody, plays into what they want. I gotta do a better job of screening off the ball, moving without the ball because they’re not helping and I think I can get other guys open.”
Haliburton and the Pacers in general also struggled when the Cavaliers employed a 3-2 zone, frequently using 6-11 forward and NBA Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley at the top of the key with his length making it difficult for the Pacers to get into their actions or get the ball into the paint.
“It’s an interesting dynamic, right?” Haliburton said. “A lot of teams don’t play a 3-2 and they don’t play with a 7-footer at the top. We just have to figure out how to go at it. We walked over some stuff and we saw some stuff through the course of the game that we feel comfortable with. That’s just to slow us down. That’s what zones are, to slow us down. They did a good job of that. We saw a lot of opportunities for us to attack those. We just have to take advantage of that.”
Haliburton in general found life more difficult with Mobley on the floor after he missed Game 2 with an ankle sprain. Mobley posted 18 points, nine rebounds and three steals and he blocked three shots, two of which were attempted driving floaters by Haliburton. Mobley got way up for both of those shots and those blocks seemed to discourage Haliburton from trying to go to the lane. Of his six missed field goals, four were blocked.
“He’s a good defender,” Haliburton said of Mobley. “He made some plays. Kudos to him. I think he’s a good defender but I think there’s still areas for me to be better that aren’t revolving around Evan Mobley.”
Overall, it was a frustrating evening for Haliburton, but he’s had frustrating evenings before this season. Haliburton had four points or fewer in five games his season and went through a brutal period in the first 15 games of the seasons when he shot 37.5% from the floor and 28.4% from 3.
“Sun came up this morning,” Haliburton said. “It’s unfortunate. Didn’t have a very good performance last night. But it’s more film for me to look at, more stuff for me to figure out. It’s all part of the process. Understanding it’s not what I want to see from myself, not what I’m sure anyone wants to see from me. But I’ll take it on the chin and I’ll be better next game.”
The Pacers are hoping for the same. They entered Friday night’s game with a 2-0 series lead with two road wins to start the series and had a chance in Game 3 to set themselves on the road to a sweep of the East’s No. 1 seed. Friday’s loss guarantees a Game 5 in Cleveland, but the Pacers still hold the series lead and home-court advantage.
“I told you guys after Game 1 and Game 2 they were going to respond,” Haliburton said. “In Game 2 they threw a big punch, we just weathered the storm. In Game 3 they threw a big punch to start the game and we weathered it in the first quarter, we just weren’t able to do it the rest of the game. This is a team that hasn’t lost a ton. It hasn’t lost two games in a row let alone three games in a row. We knew they’d respond. They had a great performance. But we’re still in a good spot. If I would’ve told you a week ago we’d up 2-1 and being at home, we’d like where we are.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers Tyrese Haliburton finally meets with media Saturday after Game 3