Haliburton and Turner continue to thrive together
By TYLER SMITH (@TylerSmith_ISL)
ISL Editor
INDIANAPOLIS — When Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner share the court, good things typically happen for the Indiana Pacers. Turner has benefited from playing his natural position this season. He’s also benefited from playing with #0. And if the Pacers can keep these two guys healthy, it’s a nice start to the rebuild.
After defeating the Houston Rockets on Thursday night, the Pacers improved to 26-21 on the season when both Haliburton and Turner play. That’s a solid 45-win-pace team, in year one of an entirely new direction for the franchise, which would be just behind the Nets for the No. 6-seed in the Eastern Conference. And that makes Indiana just 4-16 in games that one or both players have been out of action.
Coming into Thursday’s game, Haliburton and Turner had a solid 117.8 Offensive Rating when sharing the court. The five best Pacer lineups in Offensive Rating this year include this pairing as well. Since Haliburton returned from injury? It’s been even better. Haliburton and Turner have an Offensive Rating of 122.6 in their last 12 games together.
“He’s just a confident player man,” Turner said of his teammate Thursday night. “We all have a lot of belief in him. He does a great job of drawing my man and making the pass at the last second. I’ve built a nice synergy with him this year. We’ve picked things up very quickly.”
Last week, BasketballNews.com reported some key stats regarding Hali/Turner: Possessions featuring a Haliburton-Turner pick-and-roll have generated the fifth-most points per possession of any duo with at least 500 picks. These two have played the pick-and-roll game the third most in the NBA, trailing only Harden/Embiid and Paul/Ayton in total opportunities. It’s been instant chemistry, as they’ve put up those numbers in just 47 total games together.
The two have also been a plus+58 while on the court, compared to a minus-48 when Turner doesn’t have Haliburton, and a minus-30 when Haliburton doesn’t have Turner.
With 15 games to play, the Pacers will continue their push for the play-in tournament. Their recent play has put them within striking distance. Playoffs or not, the franchise has something here with the Haliburton/Turner connection.
