After making the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in a decade, the Indiana Pacers are off to a rough start in 2024-2025. Owning a 6-10 record through their first 16 games, the Rick Carlisle and Tyrese Haliburton-led Pacers have largely disappointed early on.
With no more than two consecutive wins on the year, the Pacers sit in 11th place in the Eastern Conference coming up on the end of November. If all but four teams in the conference did not have a losing record, their position could have been worse. After losing all three games of their road trip from Nov. 18 to Nov. 22, Indiana returns home at risk of going on their longest losing streak of the year with another loss.
Like most teams struggling early on, injuries have certainly been an issue. Andrew Nembhard, the star of the team’s 2024 playoff run, has appeared in just seven games thus far, while Aaron Nesmith and Ben Sheppard have also missed time. Indiana will also be without reserve big men James Wiseman and Isaiah Jackson for the season after both suffered Achilles tears early on.
However, injuries aside, the Pacers have still not been efficient enough on the court to generate wins. On paper, they should be an improved unit. Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner have been exactly what the team wanted in the frontcourt, while Bennedict Mathurin’s third-year leap has been a pleasant gift. Nearly everything has been in place except for Haliburton.
Tyrese Haliburton has been the Pacers’ biggest disappointment
Truthfully, it is less about Haliburton holding this team back than it is about him preventing them from advancing. A team aspiring to be a top seed in the playoffs needs a superstar-level player at the helm and Haliburton looked like he was well on his way to becoming that guy as a fifth-year player in 2023-2024. Yet, just months after receiving an All-NBA recognition, Haliburton has seen his numbers drastically drop across the board.
Sixteen games into 2024-2025, Haliburton is averaging just 15.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 8.5 assists on 37.8 percent shooting from the field. For most players in the league, those numbers would be well-respected, but the expectations for Haliburton in his fourth season with the Pacers are far beyond those of a role player.
For a player who gets most of his points from beyond the arc, Haliburton is shooting just 29 percent from deep. He has seen his percentages from long-range gradually decline over the past four seasons but they have ultimately reached a new low that statistically makes him one of the worst shooters in the NBA.
The improvements he showed in 2023-2024 attacking the rim have also regressed, as he is averaging just 11.4 drives per game — almost one full drive less than he did a year ago. His decline in drives has not only led to a decrease in scoring but also assists. After leading the league in that category in 2023-2024, Haliburton is averaging 2.4 fewer assists per game in 2024-2025.
Indiana has more struggles than just Tyrese Haliburton
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Any fan who has watched the Pacers would recognize that their struggles have not only been on Haliburton. They own the seventh-worst defensive rating in the league through the first month of the season and are bottom-10 in practically every defensive category. Yet, that was also the case in 2023-2024 when they still managed to finish 47-35.
Nembhard’s absence has also been felt, even with Mathurin’s success in his omission. Having two point guards on the court allowed Indiana to run at the highest pace in the league. Without him, they are still in the top 10 but lose the additional ball handling and playmaking threat.
Even with everything taken into account, a rising superstar like Haliburton is expected to produce more than he has. Perhaps he is more of a complementary piece to a championship team than the franchise player he looked like he was developing into. Either way, without the play he sustained in 2023-2024, the Pacers do not have enough to repeat their success as a legitimate threat.
To Haliburton’s credit, he has recognized and acknowledged his own struggles. Something just needs to change, and it will need to come quickly.
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