Jun 5, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) drives to the basket against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso (9) during the fourth quarter in game one of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton NBA Finals Struggles Highlighted With Wild Stat

Originally posted on Indianapolis Pacers on SI
By Nelson Espinal | Last updated Jun 10, 2025 10:30 AM ET

While the Indiana Pacers are tied 1-1 in the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, star Tyrese Haliburton has struggled in the series so far to make a productive impact on the court.

Haliburton is a rare unselfish star player in the NBA, delgating the ball if it means that the team gets the best offensive look possible.

This kind of offensive approach can lead to lower box score statistics, but still lead to a high-level impact on winning.

In the NBA Finals, Haliburton's numbers have been poor, failing to establish himself during the first three quarters of both games so far.

The Thunder are completely focused on removing Haliburton from the game, making everyone else on the team beat them.

During Game 2, the rest of the Pacers' roster failed to deliver the win, leading to a dominant win for the Thunder.

Haliburton's struggles can be captured by a disappointing stat: the Pacers star has the same amount of points as defensive specialist Alex Caruso.

Alex Caruso in the NBA Finals: 31 points

Tyrese Haliburton in the NBA Finals: 31 points

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— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) June 9, 2025

During the playoffs, Caruso is only averaging 9.6 points per game, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists over 23 minutes.

He is mainly in for his defensive contributions, able to somehow defend all five positions, generate turnovers, and make every offensive player he faces uncomfortable.

While Caruso matching Haliburton's point total is concerning, the 31-year-old Oklahoma City guard is being defended extremely different compared to the Pacers star.

Caruso, given his lack of consistent, high level shooting output, is typically treated as the opposing defense's lowest priority.

Haliburton has been the main focus of the Thunder defense, consistently swarming him and forcing the ball out of his hands.

Caruso also benefits from open 3-point looks, which, to his credit, he is knocking down at a 41.6% clip in the playoffs.

As the series heads to Indiana, Haliburton and Indiana will need to find a way to score points on offense or the series could end in a hurry.

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