Tyrese Haliburton struggled in Sport 2 of the NBA Finals as he scored simply 17 factors in 34 minutes.
The Indiana Pacers took a surprising 1-0 lead within the collection as Haliburton led an all-time nice playoff comeback in Sport 1.
The Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder have been then totally anticipated to bounce again, and did precisely that, successful by 16 factors.
The largest cause for the Pacers’ newest underwhelming efficiency was Haliburton’s lack of offensive output.
A former NBA All-Star was so upset with the purpose guard that he made an fascinating comparability to the bottom level of LeBron James’ profession.
No one expects Haliburton, or some other famous person, to play effectively in each recreation, however his depth ought to all the time keep the identical.
Too typically, the 25-year-old won’t take sufficient photographs and as an alternative cruise by means of video games with out making his presence felt.
Teague mentioned he’s “by no means seen” an NBA famous person be so “passive” earlier than retracting the assertion and mentioning LeBron James’ well-known meltdown in 2011.
“I’ve by no means seen a famous person not be aggressive,” Teague mentioned. “I’ve seen LeBron have dangerous taking pictures nights… I take that again, I’ve seen LeBron within the Finals in opposition to the [Dallas] Mavericks. He wasn’t aggressive.
“My factor is, we’ve seen Tyrese do that in opposition to different groups. We will virtually financial institution on two video games out of the collection, he’s going to be passive.
“Within the common season, he had video games the place he scored 4 factors. This yr, he had a recreation the place he didn’t even rating.
“We all know that’s going to occur with him, however we simply don’t know what video games. So I’m glad he bought that on the market in Sport 2.”
There’s nothing flawed with Haliburton’s strategy as a ‘pass-first’ level guard, however he should additionally look to attain 20 factors each evening for the Pacers to win the championship.
LeBron James had already established himself as arguably the most effective participant in basketball by 2011, so his NBA Finals performances have been shocking.
James averaged virtually 27 factors per recreation within the 2010-11 common season on 51 p.c area aim effectivity.
| Sport | Minutes | Factors | Rebounds | Assists |
| 1 | 45 | 24 | 9 | 5 |
| 2 | 40 | 20 | 8 | 4 |
| 3 | 45 | 17 | 3 | 9 |
| 4 | 46 | 8 | 9 | 7 |
| 5 | 46 | 17 | 10 | 10 |
| 6 | 40 | 21 | 4 | 6 |
| Common | 43.6 | 17.8 | 7.2 | 6.8 |
The Miami Warmth completed second within the Jap Convention with 58 wins and have been heavy favorites to beat the Mavericks within the Finals after a powerful playoff run.
Sadly, after a strong displaying within the Warmth’s Sport 1 victory, James fell aside within the the rest of the collection as Dirk Nowitzki’s group brought about an upset.
The 40-year-old’s worst efficiency got here in Sport 4, when he put up simply eight factors on the highway, and the Mavs finally received the collection in six.
